A Bone to Pick
by Kiran-sama
Summary: Karkat Vantas feels like his world is falling apart when he finds out his father is engaged to the mother of one of his classmates, but things start to get REALLY complicated when he finds out that what his father actually does for a living, and, along with his soon-to-be step family, is thrust into life-threatening danger. (Character death later on. COMPLETE)
1. That Woman

_Author's Note:_

_I've always wanted to write a story about the values of family bonding and understanding!_

_Eheheh. Not really._

_But sweet baby Jegus, I could not wait to write this story. How the entire plotline came to me... I'm not sure. But, I thought it was a pretty good idea, so here we are. _

_So, I'll quit yapping and let you read. Hope you enjoy._

**xxx**

**CHAPTER ONE:**

**That Woman**

Karkat Vantas hated people. At least, as far as the general public was concerned.

So, understandably, the absolute last thing he wanted was more people living in _his_ house.

Unfortunately for him, that was pretty much exactly what his father was suggesting. Well, that's what he gathered from the breaking news. Amongst other things, of course.

And then, he proceeded to blow a fuse in front of everyone present.

**x-**_**A short time earlier-**_**x**

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK YOU WRIGGLING SHITSACK! I'LL KILL YOU!"

His older _goddamned _brother leered back down at him, nose wrinkled in distaste. Karkat hated when he made that face. Well, he hated Kankri's smug ass face in general, but this particular expression was just so... _condescending_. Who did that girly, holier-than-thou _fuckass _think he was?

The argument had started off as usual: Kankri said something that pissed Karkat off (in this case, babbling on and about how immature he was and how he'll never contribute to society with an attitude like that and never mind finding a girlfriend because no girl wants an inconsiderate asshole and blah blah blah. How any being could yap like Kankri could was an absolute mystery to Karkat.

"Karkat Vantas, watch your language. I apologize if any of my previous commentary has triggered you, but please do try to have a bit of self control. We've been over this," responded Kankri in his usual calm, lengthy, superior way. The fact that he was acting as if this conversation was nothing fueled the youngest Vantas child's anger even more. _God,_ siblings were such a pain. Oh well, he thought. At least he only had one.

Karkat unclenched his teeth and opened his mouth to retort in the most cutting way possible, but the first syllable of his cleverly chosen insults was cut off by Kankri's sweater-covered hand clamping firmly down upon his face, effectively shutting his mouth. His first reaction, of course, besides flailing in surprise, was to grab his brother's wrist and attempt to pry it off of his face, which was exactly what he did.

Just as he managed to peel Kankri's had away, right when he was about to start yelling at him again, he was promptly _shh_-ed, and he had no choice but to hush up. Everyone knew that when someone said _"Shh"_, it meant that something was going down that was worth paying attention to. Whether or not this particular spectacle fell under that category, however, was definitely up for debate.

After a moment or so of silence between the brothers, Karkat finally registered the voices Kankri had been hearing. They drifted up from downstairs, the foyer most likely, he reasoned. They were all too easy to identify. His dad, and... his goddamned girlfriend.

_Fuck. Everything. _

He could clearly hear their greetings as his dad allowed that _woman_ inside. Or at least, he _would_ have clearly heard them, had his mind not have been preoccupied by hateful thoughts. That woman irritated him beyond all reason. His hate for her could not be done justice by mere words. Why, exactly?

Well, that was the thing. He had no idea. He hated her with every _fiber _of his being, and he didn't have half a clue as to the reason.

Instead, he came up with a proto-reason himself that seemed plausible enough, even though it wasn't true at all: That he did not want to lose his dad to that woman. Which, although it would pass as feasible to one who didn't know them very well, was otherwise ridiculous. He knew very well that that was not the kind of person his father was. Furthermore, it was not the kind of person his _girlfriend_ was, either. She was actually very nice, and they actually seemed like they were meant for each other. It was a beautiful relationship, inside and out, and he was admittedly actually happy that his dad had found _The One._

So why couldn't he _stand _her?

He had also speculated that the reason might not lie in her at all, but in her family. That is, her daughters: Meulin and Nepeta. Now, he wouldn't have had a problem with these two, except, well, they were his schoolmates. Karkat had always figured that this whole situation between his father and their mother was horribly awkward. The thing was, he seemed to be the only person who saw a problem in this, and that just bothered him more. Nepeta had already been all over him for as long as they'd known each other, and the absolute last thing he needed was her yipping and cheering over them potentially becoming, God forbid...

Step-siblings.

He did _not _want to live with those people. He hardly even wanted to see them at school, much less wake up and have to deal with them all day every day until he moved out. How in the _hell_ was he the only one that had a problem with this? It was such a huge problem! Karkat remembered ranting about this particular issue to Kankri once, but, amazing big brother figure that he was, all he got from the red-sweater-wearing bastard was a lengthy, vehement diatribe against his views, and about how he should be ashamed of himself for thinking such a thing and how Nepeta and Meulin and their mom were perfectly decent people and how you could trigger someone with such hateful words and how their dad deserved to be happy and yaddah yaddah yaddah. Typical Kankri. Good-for-nothing douche. He was a horrible enough brother already. How did anyone expect Karkat to deal with _more_ siblings?

But the _clincher_, he believed, was something he'd thought about that had kept him awake at night about a week ago: He'd been thinking about their relationship, as usual, and it occurred to him that they'd never fought once, according to the watchful radar of him and Kankri, and how they'd been dating for at least six or seven months now. His thoughts also wandered to the woman, and that one time she'd brought cookies over to their house (damn, were those good cookies), and how she was always smiling and laughing, and how _happy_ his dad was when she was around, and how good of a mother she'd make-

And that was where the terror set in.

Mother.

One day, that woman would be his mother.

He couldn't stand that thought. It kept him awake some nights for a while after that, tossing and turning, with no hope of getting rest. _A mother. No way in a frozen-over FUCKING hell._ Again, he did not hate that woman for her character or anything. It was just that... Well, he'd gone pretty much the entirety of his life without a mother. What need had he for one now? None. Absolutely none. He was perfectly content (relatively, at least) living with only his father and his brother, despite the colossal douche he was.

The truth was that, although Karkat didn't know it yet, he was scared. He was scared of this foreign aspect of a maternal figure intruding upon the life he was pretty much already okay with. He was afraid that she would somehow manage to take his life and everything he knew to be firm and true, and rip it all out from under him, much like one ripping a tablecloth from underneath fine china. Karkat did not want change. He was, in a way, admittedly, happy like this. Even with a dicky older brother that was gifted with _way_ too much gab, even with a rotten social life and very few friends, and even with all of the normal complications that came with being a teenager, he was, pretty much, happy. He wouldn't want his life any other way at the moment, in all honesty. It was for that very reason that the prospect of having a new _"mother" _and _"sisters"_ terrified him out of his wits.

So, lately, he had been considering ways to break the two up, like the jealous friend in one of those cheesy romance movies. Except, obviously, he wasn't going after his dad. That would be creepy. He just wanted them separated. Then, he figured, he could get on with his life and focus on other, much more important things than this persistent thorn in his side that seemed to just keep getting bigger.

Unfortunately, he'd been drawing a blank as far as plotting their breakup. He couldn't think of a single flaw in that woman's character (except maybe being _too_ nice) for him to exploit. Sensibly, he didn't dare expose his desires to Kankri. Best case scenario, he'd only nag at him again. Worst case, he'd rat him out to their father, and that just couldn't happen. It was a plan easier said than done, of that he was certain.

Thoroughly frustrated at the mere sound of that woman's high, melodic voice, Karkat roughly yanked Kankri's hand away. He turned on his heel and crept farther down the hallway, appearing as angry as one who was nearly tiptoeing could be. Kankri followed, although with less... silence.

"Karkat? I don't know if this is morally acceptable. We could easily be detected, and there's no telling whether or not this may trigger Ms. Leijon, let alone fa-" Karkat had promptly lost patience and kicked his older brother in the shin to silence him. As usual, it worked like a charm. Not even Mr. Virtue could resist a little eavesdropping.

The brothers crouched down low behind the stair railing, ears straining to hear the conversation between the two adults, as though they were young children rather than a freshman and a senior in high school. They had done this before. Sometimes, Ms. Leijon would ask his father about his work. A while ago, Karkat would have thought this completely unfair and out of line. His father had never told him or Kankri about what he does for a living, so why should this _hussy_ get to know? He eventually got over it. Surprisingly enough, topics concerning his father's work never really held his interest for long. He'd supposed he'd just gotten used to the mystery until the curiosity faded from his mind, and the aspect of his father's job just blended into the backdrop of the rest of his life.

The couple was in the kitchen, Karkat inferred. Their conversation, this time, was not centered around his father's job, but rather, something else. He pressed his ear closer, risking a surreptitious peek at the two.

They were sitting next to each other at the kitchen table. The mere sight of this set Karkat's blood boiling. That wench! How dare she get so close to his dad? He scowled, but kept his fuming thoughts suppressed as he listened to their conversation.

"I'm so excited!" she chirped, and Karkat wanted to shoot down those stairs and punch her right in her _god damned_ perfect face.

His father smiled and nodded. Then, he took her hand and looked into her eyes lovingly. "As am I," he murmured, but Karkat could hear him perfectly from where he crouched, and it made him sick. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, and wanted badly to go back to his room, and maybe chat with Gamzee or something. Anything but to be there, witnessing this heinous occurrence taking place within his own household. But, he just _had_ to remain. There was something about the undertones of this otherwise typical mushy exchange that intrigued him. Something was up. His suspicions were confirmed when his father spoke again.

"Are you ready to break the news to them?" he asked. Her response was an enthusiastic nod. She looked like she was about to burst with joy. Bitch. Karkat glowered at her from his relatively secluded vantage point for a moment before ducking back into the hall as his father turned his gaze to the stairs.

"Kankri? Karkat? Could you come here for a second, boys?"

The two brothers looked at each other for a moment, as if both were trying to glean reassurance off of the other. Whether it worked or not, Karkat stood up, pushed his shoulders back and kept his head high, and was the first to descend the staircase. He wasn't going to show that bitch that she affected him greatly in the emotional department. Nope. Not him. He was going to keep his cool, no matter what.

His father gestured to chairs across the table from him and his girlfriend. Smiles were broad upon their faces. Although Karkat desperately wanted to run upstairs and curl up in his room, he managed to keep his confident air about him as he took a seat, back ramrod straight, and eyes focused solely on his father's overjoyed expression. Kankri sat next to him, wearing an expression of genuine curiosity.

Karkat sniffed discreetly in disdain when he deduced that they must have been holding hands under the table. His father's other hand was on top of the table as he began to speak. "Boys," he said, "Now...-" He cleared his throat here. "-_Miss _Leijon and I have been together for a number of months now, and, well, we figured that now would be as good a time as any to take the next logical step..."

Karkat's demeanor almost shattered. His brows raised slightly. What was his dad trying to say, exactly? It couldn't be... Could it...?

He clenched his teeth together as he listened to his father's next words. For all of his silent praying, it didn't seem to delay the inevitable. His father took a deep breath before going on. "So, this summer, after school ends, she and I will be getting married."

And just like that, he cracked.

Karkat began to visibly shake. His hands grew clammy, and they gripped the edges of his chair until the knuckles were almost as pale as his face. His eyebrows were raised high, and he felt his teeth begin to chatter. His worst fear was being realized. He'd been too late to stop them, after all.

His father was not done with the soul-crushing newsflash. "After that, she and her daughters will be moving in with us. Isn't that great? A new mother, and two sisters!" The genuine happiness on the couple's face was getting to be too much for Karkat to bear. His father sighed happily. "We'll be moving to a larger house, too. We've already got our eye on a place. It's a nice house, big enough for all of us, and it's out of this dang city, too, and it looks over the ocean- gosh, you guy's will love it! It's gonna be great!"

As if it couldn't have gotten any worse.

Karkat's mind took a toll of the devastation:

He was marrying that _vile _woman.

_Nepeta_ was going to be his new step-sister.

And they were moving out of the city, where he'd lived since he was born, and where he'd set his roots.

And he would have to deal with this for the rest of his juvenile life.

So, it should not have been surprising at all that he proceeded to flip his lid in front of everyone, like a child throwing a tantrum. But it was all in good reasoning, as far as he was concerned.

He shot up out of his chair with so much force it tipped and fell over backwards with a loud _thud_ that immediately silenced his father's mouth. "No way!" Karkat exclaimed vehemently. _"No fucking way!"_

His dad furrowed his brows in confusion at the outburst. "Karkat? What's wrong-"

"_What's wrong?"_ he hissed, and jabbed his index finger in Ms. Leijon's direction. "_That_ is what's wrong, Dad!"

Hurt flashed across the woman's face, but Karkat paid her no mind. His father rose from the table as well, confusion gradually giving way to outrage. "What are you saying, young man?"

"YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M SAYING, DAD!" he yelled. He saw Kankri shrink away from him out of the corner of his eye, but he was too angry to care. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING? YOU'RE FUCKING UP EVERYTHING! WHY? FOR SOME TWO-BIT HUSSY YOU'RE FAWNING OVER!"

He heard Ms. Leijon gasp quietly, and any trace of any emotion that was not anger was flushed from his father's face at once. His voice was dangerously intense and low. "Karkat Vantas. Go. To. Your. Room. _Now."_ Karkat did not have to be told twice.

Without saying anymore, he turned on his heel and stormed up the stairs. By the time he reached his room, the first tear had fallen. Fuck. Why was he _crying?_ It was not the Karkat thing to do.

Who knew that one woman could cause so much god damn trouble?

Karkat immediately plopped down into his desk chair and switched on his computer. As it started up, he reflected on what had just happened. He'd just gone batshit in front of everyone. His face flushed red with embarrassment. _Great going, fuckass._

As soon as the computer was ready, he opened up Trollian and nearly sighed openly with relief when he saw that his best friend was online. God, he really needed someone to talk to. Scratch that. He needed _Gamzee_. No one else knew how to lift his spirits like his best friend.

**carcinoGeneticist [CG**] began trolling** terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**CG: **GAMZEE.

**CG: **GAMZEE?

**CG: **OH MY GOD FUCKING ANSWER ME YOU STONED SHITSPONGE

**TC: **wElL iF iT iSn'T mY bEsT mOtHeRfUcKiNg FrIeNd.

**TC: **WhAt CaN i Do Ya FoR, mY iNvErToBrOtHeR?

**CG: **DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT.

**CG:** SERIOUSLY.

**CG:** NOT IN THE MOOD.

**CG: **BUT YEAH.

**CG: **ABOUT THAT.

**CG: **I'M GONNA TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED, BUT DON'T- I REPEAT - _DO NOT_ SAY A FUCKING THING UNTIL I'M DONE. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?

**TC: **cLeAr As A fUcKiNg CrYsTaL :o)

**CG: **OKAY.

**CG: **SO.

**CG: **IN A NUTSHELL

**CG: **MY DAD TOLD US HE WAS ENGAGED TO NEPETA'S MOM.

**CG: **AND I WENT APESHIT.

**CG: **AND SAID A LOT OF SHIT I PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID.

**CG: **POINT BEING, NOW I'VE GOT AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE MAD AT ME,

**CG: **MY DAD'S MARRYING THAT BITCH,

**CG: **NEPETA'S GONNA BE MY _SISTER, _FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY,

**CG: **AND THIS SUMMER, SAY YOUR FUCKING FAREWELLS, CAUSE APPARENTLY, BECAUSE OF THIS PIECE OF SHIT MARRIAGE, WE'RE MOVING.

**CG: **I'M PRETTY SURE THAT COVERS ALL OF THE BULLSHIT.

**CG: **YEAH, I'M DONE.

**CG: **FEEL FREE TO SAY WHATEVER.

**TC: **LoOkS lIkE a MoThErFuCkInG jAm To Me, BrO.

**CG: **THANK YOU, CAPTAIN GAMZEE MOTHERFUCKING HIGH OFF OF HIS ASS MAKARA.

**TC: **tElL yOu WhAt,

**TC:** FiRsT oN tHiS mOtHeRfUcKiNg GaMePlAn,

**TC: **cOoL yOuR mOtHeRfUcKiNg JeTs :o)

**TC:** sLaM a FaYgO, oR sOmE sHiT.

**TC: **SeCoNd,

**TC: **ThErE's AlWaYs ToMoRrOw, YoU kNoW?

**TC:** tAkE a NiGhT tO cHiLl.

**TC: **ToMoRrOw, We'Ll TaCkLe ThIs ShItStOrM aS bRos

**TC: **sHoW tHaT fUcKeR wHo'S bOsS.

**TC: **:o)

**CG: **...

**CG: **I GUESS YOU'RE RIGHT.

**CG: **OKAY. I'LL TRY TO RELAX TONIGHT.

**CG: **THANKS, I GUESS.

**CG: **SEE YOU TOMORROW.

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] **ceased trolling **terminallyCapricious [TC]**

Karkat breathed a heavy sigh after shutting down his computer. With the last remaining strength he had, he trudged over to his small bed and flopped right it, not bothering to crawl under the covers.

His mind, much to his chagrin, wanted badly to keep reliving the events of his snapping, and the hellish revelations that lead up to it. However, he was just too tired. In his last moments of consciousness, he thought hazily of talking things out in person the next day with Gamzee at school. High or not, his best friend was always there for him, and that's what counted most. Especially in a most unfortunate situation as this.

Moments later, his consciousness faded, and Karkat was asleep.

**xxx**

_Soooooo? Love? Hate? Lemme know, lovelies! I'm always open to your input! Until next time~_


	2. Acting Out

**CHAPTER TWO:**

**Acting Out**

Mid-spring's early sunlight filtered gently through the blinds that were hanging over Karkat's bedroom window. That was the first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes. It looked so... serene. Partially calming, even. Karkat sat up slowly, rubbing sleep from his eyes before checking his alarm clock. It was 5:46. He noted idly that he had time for a desperately-needed shower before anyone else began walking about.

Anyone else...

The events of the previous evening rushed back to Karkat in a painful flurry of memories. He held his head in his hands and exhaled loudly. Fuck. He didn't want to have to see anyone. He didn't want to have to finally own up to his little episode the day before. He was too ashamed of himself. Karkat massaged one of his temples and sighed deeply once more. He really should have thought that one through.

Alas, what was done was done, he supposed. No use dwelling on it now. All he could do was attempt to avoid all contact with his family for the time being.

Karkat swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up. He stretched with a grunt before letting his arms fall down to his sides and set about preparing for an early-morning shower.

**xxx**

Refreshed by his lavation, Karkat threw on some clean clothes and decided it was time to make himself something to eat. He checked the clock again. 6:03. Immediately, he began to worry. Was his dad still asleep? No, of course not. His father was an early riser, though more by developed habit than anything else.

That didn't mean, however, that he was an early greeter. Usually, his father stayed in his room early in the morning (trying to sleep, Karkat presumed) unless his sons needed something. He stopped waking them up and making them breakfast when Kankri decided that he "would be honored to take on the responsibility" and blah blah blah. In all honesty, Karkat believed that his father was happy to stop having to get up so early. Mainly because he knew his dad stayed up very late, oftentimes into the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes, he'd even leave the house, too. Karkat remembered asking him why he did this a few years ago, and the only response he received was, "It's just work, son." He still felt a little bad for indirectly imposing the habit of rising early upon his father, but he figured it was better than having him trudge out of bed to take care of them when he needed to rest. One thing he missed about seeing his father in the morning, however, was his cooking. But if Kankri had turned out to be as good at cooking as he was at talking, Karkat wouldn't have had a complaint.

As he quietly descended the stairs, he listened for the telltale sounds of his brother's wakefulness. There were none. He sighed with relief. Thank the heavens that Kankri wasn't as diligent with his duty as their father had been, however much he tried to be.

Immediately upon reaching the kitchen, he set about fixing himself some cereal. He didn't particularly _like_ cereal, but it was the quickest possible thing he could prepare and eat. The last thing he wanted at the moment was to be caught by Kankri and become ensnared in another argument.

As he situated himself with his food, sitting on top of the counter by the sink, he felt his back pocket vibrate, heralding a notification from his phone. Holding his bowl in one hand, he fished his device from his pocket and checked it. Someone was trying to reach him on Trollian. He sighed. It was either Gamzee or Terezi. Those were the only two people who trolled him this early in the morning.

When he opened the application, however, to his surprise, it was neither Gamzee nor Terezi who had trolled him. He took one look at the screen name, and sighed again, this time in irritation. _"Fuck,"_ he muttered.

**arsenicCatnip [AC] **began trolling **carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

**AC: **:33 *ac pouncegr33ts her brother-to-be with furrocious gl33 and nuzzles his sl33k fur whilst purring giddily*

**AC: **:33 *ac purrs good morning karkitty!*

**AC: **:33 did you sl33p well?

**AC: **:33 i mean

**AC: **:33 *ac paws at karkitty and meows chippurrly did you sl33p well?*

_Brother-to-be. _

God damn her.

He angrily stuffed his phone back into his pocket and set his unfinished bowl of cereal down by the sink. Karkat slid off the counter and huffed his way back upstairs. He'd completely forgotten that he'd have to deal with _her_ today. And it looked like she already knew full well of the engagement between their parents. That was just _great._ Now, she'd be all over him even more than usual, chattering about their impending siblingship and whatnot. _Fuck!_ As if things couldn't get worse than they already were, he had freaking _Nepeta_ to deal with.

Karkat trudged to his room and closed the door behind him. It wasn't as if he _hated_ Nepeta. He just thought she could be annoying sometimes. Er, most of the time, in reality. He didn't really feel that they had anything in common, really. But she seemed to. For some reason, she just really wanted to be friends with him. And he was her friend. Just not as good a friend as she thought. He didn't think much of it.

He glanced over at his clock again. It was 6:15. He had about half an hour to burn until the bus came. Karkat used to think it was strange to take the bus to and from school, when they had a perfectly decent car in the garage. Kankri had his license, too, so it wasn't as if it would have been illegal or anything. He had begun to suspect a while ago that their dad did not want them driving in the car without him. It sounded pretty ridiculous, which is why he often trashed the theory, but he couldn't think of another reason as to why it was such a big deal that they take the bus to school. He remembered asking his dad once, and remembered his reply: "It's safer that way." That, too, perplexed him. How was it safer to ride the bus than take the car? Kankri seemed like he'd be a pretty capable driver. Maybe that was it. Maybe Dad just didn't trust Kankri with his car. Yeah. That seemed reasonable, he supposed. Well, the most reasonable explanation he could come up with.

Karkat sighed and flopped down on his bed, letting his thoughts wander. Had he done his homework? Eh, probably not. Not that it was important. He had a test third period, he remembered. Astronomy. That wasn't all that important either. He'd studied already. He was sure he'd do a decent job. He was aiming for a B+. Yeah. That would be sufficient-

Another buzz from his back pocket. He growled under his breath. Freaking Nepeta. He tried to ignore it. He really did, but the buzzing kept up, like the universe itself beseeched him to check his goddamn phone. So, he did.

And, to his sweet relief, it wasn't Nepeta.

**gallowsCalibrator [GC] **began trolling **carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

**GC: **H3Y K4RKL3S

**GC: **1 H34RD TH3 B1G N3WS

**GC: **T3LL V4NT4S S3N1OR TH4T 1 S41D H3Y

**GC: **4ND CONGR4TS

**GC: **H3'S 4 STUD

**GC: **1T'S 4BOUT T1M3 H3 GOT H1TCH3D

**GC: **1 M34N

**GC: **D4MN

**CG: **OKAY. FIRST OF FUCKING ALL,

**CG: **DON'T EVER, _EVER_ CALL MY OLD MAN A STUD EVER AGAIN.

**CG: **EVER.

**CG:** THAT'S REPULSIVE BEYOND ALL FUCKING REASON.

**CG:** SECONDLY,

**CG:** SHUT. THE FUCK. UP.

**GC: **:?

**CG: **THIS IS NOT A FUCKING CELEBRATORY OCCASION, OKAY?

**CG: **I DON'T FUCKING WANT THIS.

**CG: **I DON'T.

**CG: **I DON'T WANT THEM TO GET MARRIED,

**CG: **I DON'T WANT TO HAVE MS. ROLEPLAY CATS-A-LOT AND MS. I-CAN'T-HEAR-HOW-FUCKING-OBNOXIOUSLY-LOUD-I'M-BEING AS FUCKING STEP-SIBLINGS,

**CG:** AND I DO _NOT_ WANT TO MOVE TO SOME GODDAMN BIG ASS HOUSE THAT LOOKS OUT OVER THE FUCKING OCEAN LIKE IN SOME KIND OF SHITTY ASS ROMANCE MOVIE.

**CG: **SO DON'T START CHEERING AND YIPPEE-KAI-YAY-ING OR WHATEVER THE FUCK

**CG:** BECAUSE THIS WHOLE MARRIAGE THING

**CG:** IS A PIECE OF ROTTING HORSESHIT.

**GC: **:O

**GC: **K4RKL3S!

**GC:** WH4T H4S GOTT3N 1NTO YOU?

**CG: **HERE WE GO WITH THIS SHIT.

**GC: **...

**GC: **K4RK4T

**CG:** WHAT?

**GC: **DO YOU LOV3 YOUR D4D?

**CG:** WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?

**CG:** OF COURSE I DO.

**GC:** TH3N DON'T YOU TH1NK H3 D3S3RV3S TO B3 H4PPY?

**CG: **WELL, YEAH.

**GC: **SO, C4N'T YOU F1ND 1T 4T 4LL 1N YOUR H34RT TO JUST QU1T YOUR COMPL41N1NG FOR YOUR D4D'S S4KE?

**CG: **...

**CG:** GOD FUCKING DAMMIT.

**CG:** I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN.

**CG:** I KNEW YOU WOULD DO THIS.

**GC: **:?

**CG: **YOU'RE JUST LIKE KANKRI, YOU KNOW THAT?

**CG: **I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD SINK SO FUCKING LOW, TEREZI.

**GC: **K4RK4T WH4T TH3 H3LL 4R3 YOU T4LK1NG 4BOUT?

**CG:** I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH HERE

**CG: **AND YOU'RE JUST...

**CG: **FUCK.

**CG: **YOU KNOW WHAT?

**CG:** FUCK YOU TEREZI.

**CG:** FUCK. YOU.

**CG:** WE'RE DONE TALKING.

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] **blocked **gallowsCalibrator [GC]**

With a furious growl, Karkat shoved his phone back into his pocket and slammed his head back against the wall, resulting in a loud thumping sound. It hurt like hell, but he was just too pissed off to care. How could she _do _that to him? He was trying to get some help for his problem, and she turned on him. Karkat sighed angrily, though his irritation was beginning to fade. Maybe he was blowing this way out of proportion...

Yeah. He'd blown it out of proportion.

_Fuck. _

Why did he have to be so emotional all the time? That was the second time he'd flipped his lid within the past twenty-four hours. And after the rage faded, all that was left was this cold feeling inside of him. He shook his head in a feeble attempt to clear it. No doubt about it. Today was going to suck.

**xxx**

The bus was three minutes late. Regardless, Karkat was relieved as ever when it pulled to a stop in front of their house. He enjoyed riding the bus. It gave him time to think without Kankri nagging him left and right. Solace, if you will.

He took a seat near the back of the bus. He liked being one of the first stops. He got first dibs on seats that way. And that was just awesome.

Karkat leaned his head up against the cool window as the bus pulled off down the street. The ride to school always took a while, what with the city traffic and all, but Karkat didn't mind.

About ten minutes later, the bus came to a halt, and Sollux boarded the bus, followed closely by his twin brother, Mituna. Karkat oftentimes marvelled at Sollux's patience. He wondered idly what it would be like to have a brother such as Mituna. How did Sollux manage?

His friend paused in the aisle to let Mituna slip into the seat across from Karkat. Immediately, the helmet-clad teenager pulled out a GameBoy and started playing the device. Sollux sat next to his twin and turned to Karkat with a curt nod. "Thup," he greeted him, lisp ever-prominent.

Karkat sighed softly. Should he tell Sollux? Well, they _were_ friends, but... Karkat just wasn't sure if he should trust anyone else in a conversation regarding his father's impending marriage to Ms. Leijon. So, he didn't.

"Nothing much. Just... You know. The usual clusterfuck of teenage botherations," he muttered dryly. He tried to adhere to his usual tone as much as he possibly could, so as not to arouse suspicion in Sollux. But his friend was perceptive, he knew. He just had to hope he was lucky.

He was not lucky.

"Yeah yeah yeah," smirked Sollux. "That'th bullthit, KK. You're acting all thtrange. You look kinda moody, if you athk me."

Karkat scowled at his friend, damning the bespectacled teen's intuition. "Oh yeah? Well, no one fucking asked you, did they?"

Sollux sighed. "Kar, jutht tell me what'th the matter, or you're gonna be like thith for the-"

He was interrupted by an urgent cry of, "SOOOOOLLUX! Heeeeeeeelp! Help me! I- I can't- I can't- ARRRRRGH!"

Sollux turned to his brother and gently took the GameBoy out of his hands and set to work vanquishing the part of the game that Mituna couldn't. When he was done, there was a myriad of beeps and pings coming from the small device, and Sollux handed it back to Mituna, who gasped and squeaked in happiness. "Thhhhhhhhanks, bro!"

Although it had only been a small exchange between the twins, Karkat was somehow still left in awe. How did Sollux manage to deal with that all the time? His brother, his _older twin_ had the mental capacity of a three-year-old.

Vaguely, he wondered what it would be like if he and Kankri got along like that.

Would he and his new family be able to get along like that?

The mere speculation left a bad taste in Karkat's mouth.

"Kar!" exclaimed Sollux impatiently.

"What?"

Sollux sighed a hefty sigh and adjusted his glasses. "I _thaid_, you thould tell me what'th wrong now, or you'll be piththed off like thith for the retht of the day, and that'th no fucking fun for any of uth."

Karkat growled quietly and tightly gripped the edges of his seat, addressing Sollux with nothing less than the brunt of his irritation. "Will you just _drop it?!_ I'm perfectly fucking fine, understand?!"

His friend sighed and looked away. "Thuit yourthelf," he said simply before turning to face his twin and help him with his video game once more.

Karkat leaned back against the window, more pissed off than he'd been to start with. He tried talking to people, and it blows up in his face. He tried _not_ to, and it _still_ blows up in his face. What had he done wrong? Why did it feel like the universe was out to get him?

**xxx**

The first half of the school day passed by without incident. As for that science test, he thought he did better on it than he'd assumed he would to start with. That was a good sign.

Now it was time for lunch.

Armed with his typical brown paper bag, Karkat sought out his best friend quickly and sat down next to him. Gamzee greeted him with a, "Hey hey hey, motherfucker. How's the shitstorm?"

Karkat exhaled soundly. "Shitty as ever. I think I might've made it work." Without giving Gamzee a chance to interject, he went on. "I blew up on Terezi this morning, and I'm surprised she hasn't come over here to kick me in the balls or something. But that's not all. I pretty much told Sollux to fuck off earlier today, so I think I've got him mad at me too or something." He stabbed his fork into a peach slice he'd packed. "This fucking sucks, Gamzee."

His best friend patted him on the back in a gesture of comfort. "I hear ya, motherfucker. Why don't we-" He paused and leaned back to look at something on the other end of the cafeteria. Karkat turned to follow his gaze, and nearly puked up the piteous amount of food he'd eaten. It was _her._

Nepeta had spotted him, and had risen from where she sat with Equius, Vriska, and some other rich kids and started skipping over to where he and Gamzee sat.

Oh. Fuck. No.

Karkat could only watch in terror as she reached them, stopping about a foot or so from Karkat. "Karkitty!" she exclaimed giddily. Suddenly, she pounced, grabbing him and forcing him into an unwanted hug. "I'm so happyyyyyyy~" She looked up at him, eyes bright with glee. Karkat was helpless in this situation, his only option to sit there in her tight-ass hug and listen to her ramble on about nothing he wanted to hear, while Gamzee sat back and watched this all unfold.

"Nyaaaaa! I can't wait till this summer! Cause then, we'll be brother and sister, Karkitty! Won't that be furrbulous? We'll have so much fun!" She paused to gasp. "If our parents are getting married, does that mean that _my_ last name will change to Vantas? That'd be so cool! I mean, I like Leijon and all, but this way, you and I will have the same last name! I'll be 'Nepeta Vantas'! Mew! It sounds pawsitively purrfect, Karkitty! Don't you agrrrreeeee~?" With every word she spoke, Karkat grew more and more irritated. "I can't wait until the marriage! It'll be so purrrrrfect! I just know it! I get to wear a cute dress, and you'd look purrfect in a tuxedo suit, Karkitty!" Why couldn't she just _shut up?_ "I think it's great that we'll be brother and sister, Karkitty. Can I start calling you 'big brother' now? Or would you purrfur I wait until after the wedding? I can do either! Hm... I'll start now! Maybe I'll just skip around for the rest of the day, meowing, 'Karkitty is my big broooother!' It just sounds so-"

Out of the blue, Karkat stood up and shoved Nepeta away from him. She stumbled backwards, almost into another student. Confusion dominated her features. "Karki-"

"Oh for Christ's sake would you just _SHUT THE FUCK UP?!"_

Her eyebrows turned upwards. She was speechless. _Good._

And then, for the third time in twenty-four hours, he proceeded to blow his top.

"I don't want my dad to marry your fucking whore of a mom! I don't _want_ you to be my goddamn sister! So shut the _fuck _up about it! They are _not _getting married, you stupid girl! And they never will! So take your fucking fantasies somewhere else and leave me the _fuck_ alone!" With every word he said, he saw the tears in Nepeta's eyes grown more and more prominent. But he didn't care. It delighted him, in fact. Maybe if he hurt her enough, she would leave him alone.

Soon, she raised her hands to her eyes, and the soft sounds of Nepeta's sobbing drifted to his ears. He saw Gamzee watching him out of the corner of his eye. He looked up, and saw Equius and Vriska looking his way. Equius had begun to stand. _Oh fuck me._

Without another word, he turned and left the cafeteria, leaving his best friend and weeping future step-sister behind.

**xxx**

Karkat leaned up against the wall guarding the perimeter of the school rooftop. His head hurt and his face was flushed red with shame. Fuck. He'd done it again. He'd gone off on Nepeta for being... Nepeta. What was his _damage?_ He growled softly, at himself more than anyone as he looked out over the crowded city.

Suddenly, he began to hear faint footfalls on the stairs that lead up to the rooftop. He turned his head towards the door, wondering who it could be...

Just then, the door was kicked open by none other than Equius.

Karkat barely had time to think _Oh fuck me _before-

_BAM_

Equius's fist struck him hard square between his jaw and his cheekbone, and he was immediately shoved back against the wall by the sheer force of the blow. He slid to the ground as his mouth filled with blood. He spat the blood out, and paled when he saw one of his incisors inside the small mess. His tongue immediately probed the spot, and found that tooth was, in fact, missing. Holy shit. He'd actually knocked his _tooth _out. Ho-ly shit.

He didn't have time to dwell on this, though, because before his mind could properly process this, Equius grabbed him by the shirtfront and punched him again; this time, his eye was the target.

"_Fucking rat,"_ the muscle-bound teenager hissed. _"Who the fuck do you think you are?"_

Karkat didn't have a chance to defend himself against his immensely strong classmate. As such, he was punched a few more times before he heard a voice, and the barrage of blows ceased, Equius poised to strike again.

"Now, Equius, please, try to proceed with some... _decorum_," Vriska Serket chuckled, approaching the one-sided beat-down, seeming as composed as ever. "Step aside," she said with that sleek voice of hers. "It's my turn. You've had your fun, big guy."

He did as he was told, albeit with obvious reluctance, casting a hateful glare that burned through his shades down at Karkat. The Vantas boy, through the agonizing haze of his mind, managed to scoot back more against the wall. That was a weak substitute for escape, however.

Vriska grinned at this, and pressed her heavy boot to Karkat's heaving chest. "Guess you'll think next time before you go _blowing a fuse-"_ She increased the pressure on Karkat's chest, causing him to cry out in pain as his ribs began to bend. "-on someone. Right, _gutter punk?_" Karkat, gasping for breath, managed to painstakingly nod his head slightly, and he prayed that Vriska would see his compliance and just _stop crushing his ribcage_. _Coward_, his subconscious taunted him.

Much to his horror, the pressure did not stop. Vriska began to chuckle under her breath as Karkat struggled even more to breathe. Then- his savior. Her voice rang out across the rooftop, halting all activity:

"Noooooooo! Vwiskers! Stop it! Stop hurting Karkitty!"

Karkat had never been so happy to see Nepeta in his entire life.

The girl ran up to Vriska at once and latched onto her arm, trying to tug her away from Karkat. _Bless her fucking soul_, Karkat thought with undying relief as Vriska complied and removed her killer boot from his chest. He leaned forward, breathing deep and long.

"Nepeta!" exclaimed Equius, rushing over to the girl. "You should not be here!"

Surprisingly, she whirled on him, anger flashing across her childish features. "Equiussss! _Why _did you attack my Karkitty?!"

He appeared taken aback by this harsh response. "N-Nepeta... I... You... He insulted you! He made you cry!"

"SO?!" she yelled, and Karkat lifted his head up in wonder at the spectacle of an angry Nepeta. _"Look at him! _He looks like he got hit by a train!" Karkat immediately blushed. Did he really look that bad? He couldn't wait to get to the bathroom or some other place with a mirror and survey the damage.

Equius seemed to waver at this, while Vriska seemed oddly amused. So, she took the liberty of speaking for her failing comrade. "Aw, Nepeta, you know we were only doing this for your honor," she crooned. Before Nepeta had a chance to reply, Vriska slung her arm around the younger girl. "But, if you _really_ protest... I suppose we can cease and desist. Come on now. Let's leave this trash to recuperate." With that, she began leading a reluctant Nepeta away. Part of Karkat wished she'd stay with him, but he knew that one did not simply defy Vriska Serket. Equius tossed a menacing glower back his way, and spat in his direction before turning and following the girls, making Karkat feel like more of an asshole than ever.

He remained still for what seemed like a few minutes, but it easily could have been an hour, what with his current condition. As soon as he shifted to attempt to stand up, fiery ache shot through his chest, and pain pulsated through the left side of his face that had been abused by the rock-hard fists of that blockhead, Equius.

It took him a bit, but he finally managed to stand. Walking was a bit more of a challenge, but he actually managed not to completely topple over. He staggered over to the door and stumbled into the hallway, meticulously maneuvering his way down the stairwell and back onto the third floor of the school building. The nurse's office wasn't too far away, he told himself. Only on the second floor. He could make it.

He took two steps before his strength completely faded, and he collapsed to the ground against a row of lockers.

What a horrible fucking day this was turning out to be.

**xxx**

_Aaaaaand I think that's a great place to stop c:_

_Next chapter, we get to dive deeper into the mystery of Mr. Sufferer Vantas's (yeah, I called him that. Deal with it) line of work, so stay tuned! Until next time, lovelies!_


	3. A Little Disobedience

_Author's Note:_

_Chapter three already! Hoo-rah!_

_Anyway, here comes the __**real **__good stuff, just something to look forward to ^^ If you beautiful people could review and tell me what you think of the story, that would be, just, spectacular. Thank you, lovelies!_

**CHAPTER THREE:**

**A Little Disobedience**

"...kitty?"

A familiar voice caressed his ears, and he welcomed it against the throbbing pain that was pulsing through his body.

"Karkitty? Are you awake?"

What had happened again? Oh, that's right. He got the shit beat out of him. By who...?

"Karkittyyyyyyyy!"

Fucking Equius. And Vriska, that rotten bitch. But why'd they beat him up?"

"Come ooooooon! Wake up!"

Oh yeah. For yelling at Nepeta and making her cry.

Oh fuck.

_Nepeta?_

Karkat shot up in the infirmary bed, clutching at the sheets. He blinked the weariness from his eyes and took in his surroundings. Nepeta stood next to the bed he was in (holy shit- when did he fall asleep?), and he watched as her expression of concern vanished in favor of her usual chipper countenance.

"Karkitty!" she squealed. "You're awake!" Immediately, she captured him in a tight hug, causing him to grunt in pain. She realized this and let go, scooting away a bit. "I'm sorry! I forgot!"

Karkat sighed tightly and reached up to touch the left side of his face. Despite how light the touch was, it still hurt. Fucking Equius. It was then that he noticed that his left eye was shut. Upon further inspection, he noted that it was covered in bandages. Fuck Equius, and fuck his strength! His tongue massaged the place where his left incisor used to be. He wasn't getting that back, and that pissed him off even more.

"Karkitty...?" Nepeta's wary voice drew him from his hatred for the time being. "How do you feel?"

He responded without thinking. "Pissed off," he grunted. Then, some unfathomable force beseeched him to turn his head, just a little, so that he could see Nepeta's face. Karkat did so, and that look on her face made his heart skip a beat. Not in infatuation, but in guilt. She was worried. About _him_. Even after all he'd done. Immediately, Karkat began to feel like shit.

"I'm sorry for flipping my shit," he murmured, looking away, as if that alone could suppress the horrible feelings. "I was a dick, and you were just trying to be friendly, and I'm a douche, I shouldn't have done that, so yeah. Sorry, Nepeta."

There was silence for a long moment, and then came her soft response, "It's okay, Karkat." That was all she said, but that was enough. After what could have been a few minutes or even a whole hour, there was the resounding ring of the school bell, signalling the beginning of the final period of the school day.

"Oh!" Nepeta piped up. "I have to go!" She stood up. "By, Karkitty~" She waved in his direction, but he did not respond. Nepeta left the infirmary, leaving Karkat to stare down at his hands, feeling like a horrible person, all by himself. Or so he thought.

"Karkles!" A familiar voice jerked him from his self-hate. He looked up sharply to see Terezi leaning up against the wall by the door. She sauntered over to his bed, walking stick held in her hand as she swished it about slightly as she walked.

"What the fuck?!" he exclaimed in surprise. "How long have you been in here?"

She snickered in her usual way and sat in the chair that Nepeta had previously occupied, hands resting on the top of her walking stick, which was in an upright position. "I'll have you know, _I_ was the one who found your sorry self out cold in the middle of the hallway. You're lucky it was me, you know. I'm sure you would've _died_ of embarrassment if it had been anybody else."

He scoffed, trying to appear more confident than he actually was. "Fuck you! I would not have. As if I gave two shits about what other people think..." Before she could contradict his bluff, Karkat hastily changed the subject. "Shouldn't you be in class right now?"

Terezi chuckled, and Karkat felt himself burn a bright red. Making him blush at the smallest of actions was something that only Terezi could do. "Study hall," she said. "No one will care if I'm gone, _especially_ if it's for a good cause." And that was very much true. That was the deal with high school study halls.

Karkat clicked his tongue and looked away, crossing his arms and unconsciously trying to make his injured side the least visible he possibly could, even though Terezi couldn't see, thus making it a ridiculous thing to do. "Why are you here?" he asked curtly, trying to speed up their encounter in any way possible.

His friend sighed deeply and leaned forward more, putting more pressure on her walking stick. "We need to talk, Karkat, and you know that."

The Vantas boy exhaled through his teeth, clenching his fists on his lap. Fuck. He should have known this was coming. But, that didn't mean he couldn't try to discourage her as much as he could. "No, we don't. There's nothing to discuss."

Obviously growing more frustrated by the second, Terezi's grip on the head of her walking stick noticeably tightened. "Karkat, in all seriousness, you can't keep this up. You're going to have to come to terms with this, and you're going to have to do it soon."

"Shut up..."

Her voice raised considerably in volume. "No! No, Karkat! You need to hear this!"

She was not the only one growing more agitated. "I said _shut up! _You don't understand anything, do you?"

Suddenly, her voice softened. "Karkat..." She reached out and touched his face. He turned and looked at her, wide-eyed. He could see her blind eyes through the lenses of her scarlet glasses. Though she was blind, it felt like, in that moment, she was seeing parts of him he didn't know existed. It left him awestruck sometimes to know that Terezi could do this. "Please try to accept this. For your dad, if nothing else. He's finally found love again, but it tears him apart to know that you're so angry about it," she murmured. Every word she said pierced him like an arrow. Terezi was absolutely right, as she always was. He was being a complete and utter asshole by denying his dad the right to happiness. He wanted to accept this change. He really did. But as much as he wanted to, there was still a part of him that just couldn't, and that only served to make him feel even more selfish.

Sensing his confliction, Terezi sighed and pulled her hand away. She stood up, and spoke again. "I'll give you some time to think by yourself..." She turned away, but looked back at Karkat for a second, hesitating. Then, at last, she murmured, "I'm here for you when you need me." Karkat looked down at his hands again, listening to Terezi's slow footsteps as she left the room, leaving him all alone.

**xxx**

The bell rang at long last, heralding the long-awaited conclusion to another school day. Karkat had been let out of the nurse's office after being called to the principal's office to give his account of the events leading up to his injuries. He had curtly reported that he'd yelled at Nepeta (leaving out her crying) and was subsequently beaten up by Equius and Vriska. All other questions that were asked of him, he neatly avoided, until he was just let go a minute or so after the bell rang.

At the present moment, he was heading towards the buses that were parked outside of the school building, backpack slung over his shoulder in a casual fashion. Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate within his pocket. He paused over to the side of the pavement and pulled out his phone, opening up the message. It was from Terezi.

**gallowsCalibrator [GC] **began trolling **carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

**GC: **H3Y, K4RKL3S

**GC:** 1 W4S TH1NK1NG

**GC:** M3 4ND SOL W3R3 PL4NN1NG ON H4NG1NG OUT 4T 4 SW33T PL4C3 DOWNTOWN R1GHT 4FT3R SCHOOL

**GC: **TH4T N3W C4F3 TH4T JUST OP3N3D

**GC:** YOU KNOW TH3 ON3

**GC:** SO

**GC:** YOU DOWN FOR 1T?

Karkat sighed. He knew he had to tell his dad about this, and ask permission. He also knew what the answer would be. A definite 'no'. A solid rule of his father's was coming straight home after school. The only reason Kankri was able to join the debate club and stay after school for it was that they arranged that he would stay in the building until the meetings were over and wait for their dad to come and pick him up. Going to a completely different location before going all the way home first was a big no-no. Karkat clenched his teeth. What a bullshit rule. He was old enough to take care of himself. There was no way he was going to go _all the way home_ before heading downtown to hang with his friends. It would just take too much time.

So, he agreed to go.

**CG: **FUCK YEAH

**GC: **FR34K1NG SOL1D

**GC: **W3'R3 W41T1NG BY TH3 L1BR4RY TO W4LK DOWN TOG3TH3R

**GC: **TH3 ON3 DOWN TH3 STR33T FROM SCHOOL

**GC:** SO HURRY TH3 FUCK UP

**gallowsCalibrator [GC] **ceased trolling **carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

Karkat smirked triumphantly and pocketed his phone, changing course to head down the street and out of the school's parking lot, in the direction of the library a block or so away. How'd they get so damn far away? Well, that's what he go, he supposed, for letting himself be held behind by the principal and his interrogations.

Kankri had a debate club meeting that afternoon, so there was no way he'd know if Karkat never made it to the bus. Perfect. He smiled a genuine smile as he kept walking down the crowded sidewalk.

He decided to take a shortcut he knew to get to the library. He turned into an alley between a pawn shop and a small used clothes outlet. Karkat strolled along down the alley way. It was a rather wide space, and it felt nice not to feel closed in for once. He sighed, looking forward to meeting up with his friends. That's when it occurred to him that Terezi probably went ahead and told Sollux of his father's engagement. Damn it. Karkat scowled. The last thing that Karkat wanted was another heart-to-heart and/or lecture by _another_ friend.

Suddenly, his phone began to ring, his dark ringtone reverberating off of the walls of the alleyway. Karkat pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it. It was his dad. Typical. His dad never texted anyone, even though he had a cell phone with texting capabilities. For some reason, he was exclusively a voice-to-voice person.

He accepted the call and held the phone up to his ear, halting his walk halfway through the alleyway. "Yeah, dad?"

Karkat was met with his father's voice, but something was wrong. It sounded tense. Nervous. Urgent. "Karkat, tell me you're still at school."

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What? Why-"

His father cut him off "I called Kankri earlier and told him to come straight home after school, and he called me from the bus saying _you weren't on it_."

Karkat was silent. He didn't know what to say. Between the disturbing sound of his father's near-frantic voice, and the fact that he'd been caught, he was nothing if not dumbfounded.

"Karkat. Where. Are. You?"

"I-"

His response was cut off as a cloth was clamped over his face, and was held in place by a strong hand. Karkat yelped in surprise, dropping his phone to the ground to use both hands to attempt to pry off the hand and the cloth. However, his actions were in vain. Whoever his attacker was, they were just too strong.

A sickeningly sweet scent invaded his nose. He tried hard not to breathe, but it was no use. He was in dire need of oxygen, what with the current situation he was in. His limbs began to go numb, and soon, his vision began to black out. His hands fell down, listless at his sides. Karkat finally felt his knees give out and his eyes close. But still, the rag was held over his mouth and nose, slowly sapping away his strength and consciousness. He wanted to scream, but he found himself incapable.

Dimly, he registered that he was moving. Whoever had attacked him was holding him upwards and walking with him out of the alley and over to a black sports car. It would have appeared as though Karkat was not under attack, but simply being helped to a car by a trustworthy adult, although that was most certainly not the case.

He was pushed into the back seat. The door closed behind him, the rag and the hand finally removed. Karkat breathed deeply, relishing in the fresh air that flooded his lungs. He thought he felt feeling in his extremities being regained too. However, his hope was quickly dashed when the driver's side door opened and he caught a glimpse of the face of his attacker. It was a familiar face, one he'd seen at least once before in his past... Yes... He knew that face...

That was all he had time to think before the rag was once again held to his mouth and nose. He tried to struggle weakly, but his attempts at escape rapidly died as the effects of the drug once again began to take hold of his body. He saw the flash of a syringe, and barely felt a distant prick in his neck. Karkat didn't even have the brain capacity to wonder what it was that was being pumped into his system.

The next thing he knew was darkness.

**xxx**

_Enter: Daddy's coworkers :D _

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as always, and please do review/follow/favorite if you liked. Hell, you can review even if you didn't like it. Either way, I would love to know what you think. That's what keeps us writers writing, after all ^^ Until next time, Lovelies~_


	4. Truth and Consequence

**CHAPTER FOUR:**

**Truth and Consequence**

Karkat knew he was awake when he felt his head throbbing like crazy. As his senses slowly came back to life, he noted that he was lying down, his cheek pressed against something cold. It felt like stone. He was on a stone floor. Okay. That was a start.

He shifted, and discovered that his hands were bound in front of him. No, not bound- cuffed. Like he was some sort of dirtbag convict. Upon further inspection, he noted that his feet were left unchained, much to his relief. His wrists ached from the tightly-closed handcuffs, so he tried to move his hands and arms as little as possible as he raised himself to his knees, using mainly his leg muscles to do so.

It was dim; the only light in the room was a small bulb suspended from the gray ceiling, emitting a weak orange glow. Karkat squinted through the dimness and the pain of his headache to observe his surroundings. It was quite a spacious room, windowless, with the only door located up a small set of steps. It looked fairly sturdy, with a metal handle. In actuality, 'sturdy' was an understatement. The door looked positively impenetrable. All in all, the room seemed to be some sort of basement. _Where the fuck am I?_

That was when he noticed that he was not alone in that basement.

Karkat yelped unintentionally and scrambled backwards until his back was pressed against the wall when he saw a figure move out of the corner of his eye. He only calmed down (slightly) when he saw that the figure was...

It was Kankri.

"Ka- _Ka-"_ he began to stutter. His heart rate shot back up again. What was his brother doing in this random basement? "Kankri! What the fuck are you doing here?"

His older brother rolled onto his back, then groaned in pain as he hoisted himself to his knees. His hands, too, had been cuffed together. Karkat was surprised at the unkempt appearance of his brother. Kankri's normally well-kept black hair looked as if he'd just taken a stroll through a wind tunnel, and his once immaculate and wrinkle-free red sweater was bunched up around his hips, and one side of the neck was raised higher than the other. At first, his voice was sluggish. "Kar...kat? Karkat?" Then, his eyes widened at the sight of his younger brother in the same bleak circumstances as he was, and he returned nearer to his normal self, regaining most of his regular tone. "Karkat! What are _you_ doing here?" His voice sounded frantic, similar to their father's voice when Karkat had been on the phone with him.

_Dad..._

Karkat shook his head to clear it, and attempted to form his customary scowl. "I asked you first, fuckass. So let's hear it. What're you _doing_ here?"

Kankri straightened his back, becoming more and more like his usual self with every passing moment. _"I'll_ have you know, I was only walking home from the bus stop when I was dropped off, minding my own business, and I swear I had no _inkling_ of a suspicion that this was going to happen, so I was just walking down the sidewalk to our house, when all of a _sudden,_ I mean _out of the blue_, I was just _plucked_ off of my feet. I mean _yanked_ right off of the pavement. In any case, as you can imagine, I was highly perplexed by this, yes, quite shocked indeed. But the next thing I knew, I was being _injected_ with some liquid, which was unbeknownst to me, but immediately afterwards, I felt terribly faint, and was thus unable to remain awake. And so, subsequently, I fell unconscious. Quite frankly, I found the whole experience quite triggering. Afterwards, I awoke to these dank surroundings, with my wrists handcuffed and-"

"That's enough, blabbermouth!" Karkat growled. "I get the point!"

His brother sat back on his heels. "And so, what about you, Karkat? How did _you_ manage to wrap yourself up in this giant web of mess?"

Karkat looked away. "I... Um-"

Kankri was quick to interject. "You knowingly and deliberately disobeyed one of Father's rules. And what happened because of it? That's right! You were kidnapped! And-"

This time, it was the younger brother's turn to cut in. "Oh, as if I wouldn't have been kidnapped if I'd stayed on the bus, huh? Look at you! You went on the bus, shitface! And look where the fuck _you_ ended up, dumbass! You're one to fucking talk!"

Kankri growled right back, "Young man, if you don't watch your language and tone, you could say something very triggering!"

Karkat leaned forward menacingly, rapidly losing patience with his brother. "Will you just _shut the god-given fuck up?_ We just got _kidnapped_, you worthless _fuckass!_ We are in the middle of a fucking godforsaken _basement_, in the middle of 'no one has a fucking clue where'! All this shit is happening at once, and you're _nagging_ at me? Grow the fuck u-"

The two brothers immediately fell silent when the heavy metal door swung open with an ominous creaking. Karkat saw Kankri scoot closer to the stone wall, as if it were his only source of security. They saw a shadow slink along the partially-lit portion of the wall, and then, there was one, no, two new figures thrown into the basement. The door promptly closed afterwards.

Kankri and Karkat remained perfectly still out of curiosity and surprise for a moment after the two figures had been thrown into the basement. Then, they heard the sounds. It sounded as if one, or perhaps both, of the figures were... crying.

That crying sounded so familiar.

"N..." Karkat began hesitantly. "Ne... Nepeta?"

Immediately, the crying died down to sniffles mixed in with soft, choked words. "Kar... Karkitty? Is that you?" Holy shit! It _was_ Nepeta!

As fast as he could, Karkat scooted over to the shadowy figure of his companion. "Nepeta!" he exclaimed, in both relief and unabashed worry. As he approached her, he saw clearer her terrified expression. "Oh my _fucking_ Gog! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" The words spilled from his mouth with his unbridled concern.

She sniffled, and shook her head slightly. "I'm no- not hurt..."

He shifted closer, agitated that she'd been made to cry for the second time in one day. "What happened to you? Did they kidnap you?!" It seemed that the more frantic he grew, the dumber his questions became. Karkat realized this a bit too late, and turned a dull shade of red in his small embarrassment.

Nepeta didn't seem to notice through her disconcerted, sorrowful haze. "I- I- Me and Meulin were just w-w-walking home from sc-school w-when all of a s-s-sudden, we were att-acked! And then- and then..." She burst into tears once more, hiding her face in her cuffed hands as she sobbed. Karkat bit his lip. It must have been so hard for her, he thought. She was much too delicate for this kind of thing. Her sister, too...

He heard Kankri's voice, as mild as could be, trying to soothe an equally distressed Meulin (whom Karkat just realized was present as well, which only served to fuel his frustration with the situation). "There there, Meulin. I as much as I would prefer to present our present conditions as 'okay' and 'temporary', I regret that I must view things realistically and concur with the contrary argument. If you find this at all triggering, please-"

Kankri was cut off by a piercing wail emulating from a _very_ distraught Meulin, followed by more obstreperous sobbing on her part. Karkat's brother tried his best to hush the girl in a semi-calm manner, but it did no good.

"I DON'T WANNA BE HEEEEEEEEERE! I WANNA GO HOOOOOO-OOOO-OOOME! WHERE AM IIIIIIIIII?!"

Karkat was quick to lash out at her. "Shut the everloving _fuck_ _up, _would you?!" He was promptly shushed by Kankri in an abrasive manner.

"Karkat! Hush! This whole experience can be more triggering to some than it is to you, so be considerate!" All the while, Meulin carried on in her incessant wailing, which was starting to hurt Karkat's ears. What did it take to get that girl to _shut up?_

Suddenly, a loud _bang_ sounded nearby, causing the captives (with the exception of Meulin) to start in shock and immediately fall silent. Unnerved by their lack of mouth movements and their stillness, the deaf girl soon halted her sobbing.

Karkat shifted a bit in the direction opposite the door. Had that been... a gunshot?

A voice, adult and quite masculine, addressed them harshly from outside their little basement. "Quiet down!" The man's tone was coarse and intimidating. Karkat strained his ears for another sound, and he heard the faint yet obviously heavy footfalls of the man retreating from whence he came. But where, exactly, was that...?

Nepeta turned to her sister and whispered in a hushed and terrified tone of voice, "We need to be very quiet, okay? They sound really dangerous!" In turn, Meulin nodded. Karkat sighed and massaged his temples with his cuffed wrists. Now that the issue with the sobbing girls had been taken care of for the time being, it was time to figure out what, exactly was going on, and why he, Kankri, Nepeta, and Meulin had been abducted. And where was his dad?

As he was pondering this, he heard the sound of those vicious footsteps returning to the door. He and the others turned their heads to face the impenetrable door as it was swung open. There, they saw two figures whose presences only served to add to their present mystery.

"_Mom?"_ Nepeta couldn't resist squeaking as her mother was shoved unceremoniously down the steps and into the basement with the teens. She and Meulin scurried the small distance to see about their mother in their confusion, as Karkat and Kankri's attention was held captive by the man who had thrown her in there.

"_M-Mr. Zahhak?!" _they both managed to stammer in unison, their jaws dropped in shock of undefinable proportions. Karkat was having an absolutely dreadful time wrapping his mind around this. What. In the almighty. _Fuck_.

A memory came to mind at the sight of the man he'd only seen about once or twice in his entire life. He remembered going on a field trip to the city zoo in the third grade, and Equius's dad had been one of the chaperones for the trip. What was the father of one of his classmates doing _holding them captive in an unknown location?_

_What the fuck is going on?_

Karkat unconsciously shifted backwards. This was unreal. That man couldn't have been a _father._ There was no way the man who had so cruelly shoved a mother down into a basement to stay captive with her daughters could have, at _any_ point in his life, carried his youngest son on the back of his shoulders whilst looking at the animals at a zoo during a school field trip. No way in a frozen-over hell.

Ignoring their exclamation, Mr. Zahhak (his classmate's motherfucking _father_) made a sort of disdainful grunt before turning and closing the heavy door behind him, leaving the four teens and Nepeta and Meulin's mother behind in the basement.

With all of these thoughts clouding his mind at once, Karkat didn't notice that his gaze had drifted to Ms. Leijon, his father's girlfriend- er, fiancee. He stared blankly in her direction for a bit as she hugged her upset daughters close, soothing them in a way that only a mother could. When her eyes drifted and met his, he promptly looked away, feeling ashamed and embarrassed. Memories returned to him of yesterday night (although in truth it seemed like much longer ago) when he'd made a complete and utter ass of himself. And now, he couldn't bring himself even to look her in the eye.

"Momma?" Nepeta ventured, wiping her eyes and nose for at least the tenth time so far. "Wh-what's going on?"

Her mother was silent for a long moment. It was a silence which wrought an indescribable amount of anticipation from the teens. Karkat shifted his gaze back to the woman, silently begging her to speak, yet also begging her to remain silent.

At last, she began relaying the cause of their current situation. "Karkat, Kankri, your father is..." She exhaled soundly, as if thinking carefully of what exactly to say. "He's never told you what he does for a living, has he?"

The two brothers looked at each other, dreading where this explanation was headed, then turned to face Ms. Leijon again and nodded stoically, and she continued.

"Well, er... How to word this..." She mumbled something under her breath that Karkat didn't quite catch. "He's, well, he is..." After what looked like much internal conflict, Nepeta's mother straightened up and looked directly at the two boys, all hesitation banished from her tone. "Your father is a member of the mob."

An uncomfortable, questioning silence fell over all present. That is, until Karkat decided to voice his need for clarification. "Uh... _what?_"

Her eyes narrowed in an expression Karkat couldn't quite comprehend. "He is a member of an organized crime syndicate. For about as long as you two have been alive, that has been his job."

Karkat hastily input, "Now, wait wait wait _hold the fuck up a sec, lady._ Look here, there's no way that Dad's a member of the fucking _mob_. He's not like that!"

His father's fiancee, completely different from the woman whose feelings he'd injured the night before, retorted, "We wouldn't be here right now if he weren't!" She lowered her voice and continued on, "Now listen to me, and let me finish. He only told me about his line of work shortly after we entered our relationship, and he informed me that he fully intended to quit the syndicate, and leave this whole line of work behind him." She took a deep breath here. _"Hence_ the reason he desired to move away from this place. Don't you see?" All Karkat could do was nod, furrowing his brows, not quite grasping the validity of her words.

"He intended to move away right after we married, and move without saying a word to his co-workers. Er, _ex-_co-workers..." Another deep, ragged breath, as if telling them this was doing a number on her. "But somehow, I don't know how, they found out. And now, all I can assume is, they are holding us hostage to get to him somehow. That's..." Her voice fell even softer. "That's all I know right now."

Karkat shook his head in disbelief. "No... No way..." But no matter how much he didn't want to believe it was true, all the signs pointed otherwise. Why he always made him and Kankri take the bus instead of riding by themselves in the car, why they were required to come straight home, why he never told them what his job was, _everything_. The more it seemed that he was wrong, the angrier he got, and the louder his voice became. "No no _no!"_ he shouted indignantly. "That's not true! My dad is not a _fucking _criminal, you hear?! He's not, god _fucking_ dammit!"

He felt Kankri's hand on his shoulder, the cuff of which was digging into his shoulder painfully, although it was a gesture of comfort. "Karkat," he said softly. "She's... she's right. It makes absolute sense. You yourself must surely see that, too." He looked like he wanted to say more, but he refrained for once.

_Inconceivably,_ Karkat felt his eyes begin to sting and water a bit. It was true. It was absolutely true. His dad was a criminal. All of those years he'd spent as a young child fantasizing about his dad being some sort of ultra-cool, top secret agent for the government or something were just that: fantasies. His dad was no hero. His dad was a wretched outlaw. A vile, despicable mobster. Nothing more.

As the first tear fell, Karkat felt his face burn. Why the fuck was he crying over something like this? But the more he beat himself up over it, the worse he seemed to feel. Soon, his shoulders were shaking and he was just barely keeping his sobs inaudible. Kankri's cuffed hand moved from his shoulder to his back, trying to comfort his little brother in any way he could, though proving unsuccessful.

"Fuck him... _fuck him_..." He found himself muttering obscenities as the tears fell from his eyes, although he was more cursing himself than his father. He was angry, frustrated, and he had no idea why.

The others in the room were silent. It was an uncomfortable silence that followed the woman's revelation. Each one of them were trying to wrap their minds around this: Mr. Vantas was a mobster. He hunted people down and assassinated them. He doled drugs out for money. He cut people up and sold their organs. Hell, he probably sold _the people_. Because that was what mobsters did.

Karkat figured that that was what the people in the room with him had to have been thinking. It only fueled that fire in him to think that these vile acts were what his father took part in on a daily basis. _How could he fucking do this to us? That selfish son of a fucking whore! I hate him! I hate him! I fucking hate him! Fuck... Dad... Why?_

The door swung open, startling everyone in the room almost completely out of their bogged-down silence. All eyes were on the door, and there were audible gasps as another person descended the steps.

Karkat was the last to look up, and when he saw that person walk down the steps, flanked by other people he recognized, he was unsure of exactly how to react. He could have yelled and charged at the person to vent his anger, or he could have hugged that person close to himself and weep into his chest. With all of these emotions swimming about in his mind, he settled to speak only one word.

"_Dad."_

**xxx**

_Whew. That took longer than I wanted it too. In any case, please tell me what you thought of this chapter, and I hope to update soon. Thank you, Lovelies ^^_


	5. Impractical Joke

_Author's Note:_

_Here we are! Chapter five! That's half of ten! Which is sweet! Hoo hoo hoo!_

_Yeeeeeaaaah I'm a little out of sorts, which is to say, I'm in a super good mood. Which won't last terribly long, now that I think about what's going on in this chapter ;c _

_In any case, I hope you enjoy it regardless. _

**xxx**

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

**Impractical Joke**

Surprisingly enough, it wasn't Karkat who made the first move. He was much too preoccupied with his several conflicting emotions at the sight of his dad. No, it was quite the opposite, actually.

His dad, his cruel, despicable, gangbanger dad rushed over to where the five of them had huddled in a corner. Karkat watched without expression (as he currently could not choose which emotion to express) as his father kneeled down beside them, a look on his face which was quite difficult to decipher. In actuality, his father's expression seemed to be the exact opposite of his. While Karkat's countenance was blank as a slate, his dad's appeared to be a myriad of all sorts of different emotions, mixed together into one big confusing jumble. Karkat decided to leave it at that.

Karkat still did nothing as his dad and Nepeta's mom murmured a quick two-line exchange between each other. Then, his dad turned his gaze to the teens, eyes sweeping over them. Karkat felt himself freeze up inside when his father's eyes did a double take on him. He raised an eyebrow. "Karkat, what happened to your face?" He reached out (with an uncuffed hand, Karkat noticed) to touch his son's face, and Karkat, immediately terrified that he would notice that he'd been crying, smacked his father's hand away on instinct.

"I got into a fight," he grumbled. Then, it occurred to him just how casual his dad had sounded, tonewise, despite his visage. Karkat's features twisted into a glower. How _dare _he? He gets them all into this _horrible clusterfuck of a mess,_ and he's talking as if a _black fucking eye_ was more important than getting out of this god damned _hostage situation?_

The youngest Vantas child glared up at his father, his eyes betraying all of his conflicting emotions at once: Relief that his dad was safe, comfort in knowing that, since _Daddy _was here, everything would be okay (or so he thought), anger, sadness, and bitterness that he had been deceived his entire life by the one person he thought he could trust, and fear. Fear that, despite the constant rule that, if Dad was there, then everything would be alright in the end, something bad was going to happen. He just couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that something would go wrong, so very wrong.

Without warning, his eyes once more began to sting with tears. On instinct, he ducked his head away, not wanting to be seen at such a weak moment. It was torture: feeling,_ knowing_ deep within his very self that something horrible was going to happen, that someone was going to die, or worse, but having no idea when or what exactly would happen. Thus, leaving him with no way to prevent it from happening, to keep his family safe. He felt so _useless, _so-

The next thing Karkat knew, he was being held against his father's chest. Without protest, he clutched at his father's shirtfront and began to shamelessly sob into his father's embrace. All the while, he felt a part of himself burning in fury and embarrassment at allowing himself to sink so low. Meanwhile, another part of himself had allowed the dam burst, letting his pent-up emotions flow freely in the form of tears. He dimly registered his hair being stroked by a trusted hand, which momentarily brought him back to his childhood. He'd cried a lot more back then.

Karkat heard his dad murmuring something, most likely words that would have soothed him, had he been any younger. But this time, it would do hardly any good. Karkat was terrified on the inside. A small part of him was frantically worrying over who would be the one to die, while another part of him was telling the former to SHUT THE FUCK UP BECAUSE NO ONE WAS GOING TO FUCKING DIE AND EVERYTHING WOULD BE A-O-FUCKING-KAY BECAUSE DAD WAS THERE AND EVERYONE KNOWS THAT NOTHING CAN GO WRONG WHEN DAD-

"...There's something I need to tell you all," Karkat heard his father say, voice low, meaningful, and even, yet devoid of any usual reassuring overtones. It was... unnerving. Karkat sniffed deeply, and leaned back out of his father's embrace, wiping his wet eyes. Everyone was looking at his dad in a sort of anxiety-wreaking anticipation. At last, Karkat watched intently as his dad began to speak in that low, intense voice.

"I'm assuming that you kids have all been told about... the situation at hand." When no one said otherwise, he went on. "And I... All I can say is..." Emotion slowly began to creep into his father's voice, and Karkat was unsure as to whether or not this was a good sign. His father's eyebrows were furrowed, and his teeth were gritted as he spoke. "I... I'm so sorry." Kankri opened his mouth immediately to speak, but managed to silence himself as his dad began again. "I'm so, _so _sorry for all of this. I know that this has been hard on all of you, and I wish I could say that this ordeal is almost over, but..." He shook his head, and Karkat felt his heart drop to the pits of his stomach. "This is all my fault. I thought I could live a normal life, break ties from this pit of darkness I'd stumbled into. But I was wrong. I was foolish and careless, and now, I've dragged you all with me..." His dad straightened up. "But no matter what happens to me, or to any of you, I want you all to remember that I love each and every one of you." With this, he looked them all in the eyes one by one.

Karkat couldn't help it that his eyes widened and brows upturned at his father's, and his eyes began to sting and tear up again. He promptly wiped them on his sweater sleeve. _Fuck!_ Why was he such an emotional fucking _wreck?_ But the _way_ his dad was speaking was just so _disheartening_. Almost as if he... he...

Almost as if he were going to die.

He heard a small, almost inaudible sniffle to his right and turned his head ever-so-slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nepeta wiping her eye with her sleeve. It relieved him (although it was only a little bit) to know that he wasn't the only one upset enough to cry. Or maybe it was just his emotional weakness. Wait, what the fuck was he thinking? He was _Karkat Vantas,_ _the_ single most emotionally stable person he knew.

Ah, who the fuck was he kidding?

There was the sound of a man clearing his throat from over by the steps. Five pairs of eyes turned to look at the man who'd made the noise, Karkat's father's gaze remaining on his lap. Karkat's jaw dropped at the sight of this man, this man he recognized.

He was tall, back ramrod straight. He appeared dignified, his dark hair swept back in a smooth, suave fashion. The man had sharp features, with dark, piercing eyes that intimidated Karkat even at such a distance. He wore a tuxedo, just as Mr. Zahhak did. His hands were clasped together, and his feet were shoulder-width apart. He would know this man anywhere, even though, much like Equius's father, he'd only seen him about once in his entire life.

It had been years ago, some time during elementary school, when parent-teacher conferences were being held. Karkat recalled seeing this man berate his son as he dragged the boy outside of the school by his wrist. The boy, Karkat's classmate, was crying quietly as his harsh father scolded him, all the way outside and into their car. Karkat had watched this all happen while holding his own father's hand, waiting in the school's lobby for their conference.

That man was Eridan's father.

Eridan, whiny, snivelling, needy, _clingy_ Eridan had a mobster for a dad.

Things just kept getting weirder and weirder.

Kankri, Nepeta, and Meulin must have noticed this too, because all four of the teens were now staring up at Mr. Ampora with shock and apprehension. Nepeta was even starting to scoot backwards a little. Karkat had to admit, it was really unsettling to see the parents of his classmates as ruthless mobsters.

"I thought I had five minutes, Ampora," his father said in a low, yet almost casual tone, as if he weren't worried at all. Hell, he had some nerve. He wasn't even _facing_ the man he was talking to.

Mr. Ampora sniffed disdainfully, as though Karkat's father were something disgusting. "If it mattered, I would let you know, _Vantas_. I have important matters to attend to that don't involve offin' some traitorous dissident. The only reason I'm here right now is because _she_ wanted me to be here for this special occasion. So hurry the fuck up before I unload this clip into the back of your head right this very _fucking_ second. I am not a patient man, Vantas."

While Karkat paled and felt a large knot form in his stomach, his father actually laughed. He _laughed_ at this man that had threatened him. As his father rose slowly from his kneeling position, Karkat's wide eyes never left him. How did he manage to keep his composure, when the circumstances were stacked against him? Karkat bit his lip, knowing that he would never have been able to do the same, which idolized his dad all the more in his eyes. Maybe he'd been wrong about his father, Karkat speculated. Maybe... maybe he wasn't all that bad of a guy.

Dusting himself off, Karkat's dad stood up straight and held his head high as he sauntered back towards Mr. Ampora, Mr. Zahhak (who'd slunk out of the shadows a moment prior), and the door to the basement. The way he walked was just so _casual_, Karkat couldn't help but wonder how he managed this. Such _composure_, in such dreadful circumstances. Maybe he really was someone to look up to. He was his _dad_, after all.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was hoisting himself to his feet and running after the three men that were walking up the stairs. _"Dad!" _he shouted, quickly closing the distance between him and the mobsters. He had no game plan, no idea what he was going to do, only that he was going to do _something_ to save his dad. He had to.

No sooner had he cleared the first step, he was immediately staring down the barrel of a pistol.

His breath caught in his throat and he immediately stumbled back off the steps. He took a few steps backwards, away from Mr. Ampora's gun, eyes wide and adrenaline pumping through his veins at top speed.

"Karkat!" his dad cried. "Stay away! Get back! I'll be back soon, just _stay put_." Karkat dared to allow his eyes to flit from the weapon directed towards him to his father's wide-eyed, intense face.

Dismayed and feeling helpless, Karkat backed away further, watching as the men turned and left the basement, shutting the heavy door behind them.

As he heard the door slam solidly shut, Karkat just wanted to collapse. How could this be happening? _How?_ Surely, this was all some kind of sick joke. Probably to punish him for his disrespect the day before. Yes. That must have been it. Yes! That explained the involvement of his classmates' parents. It all made perfect sense!

He began to pace without noticing, handcuffs clinking softly as he moved. He smiled ruefully. This was all such a _cruel_ setup! He would have gladly apologized, if asked (maybe). There was no reason to go to such _lengths_ to punish him!

Then, he thought again of the gun that had been pointed directly at him.

It had obviously been a fake.

Right?

He shook his head to straighten out his thoughts. There was still a nagging part of him that feared that this was all a very real situation, while the other part beckoned him into a sense of security, that this was all a practical joke. But the part of him that denied this theory still remained, and still made his convictions waver.

What if this was all real?

He heard his brother chattering in the background about something to Nepeta and Meulin, while their mother watched over them in her own comforting way. Karkat had no idea what Kankri was talking about, but he could only assume that it was-

"...and, I fear to say, in the event that Father may die-"

As an instant reaction, Karkat whirled around, eyes blazing, to interrupt his brother viciously. "Shut the _fuck up!"_ he growled menacingly. Immediately, all eyes were on him. He took a step closer, in a very threatening manner. "Don't you _fucking_ say that! Dad is _not_ going to die, so you can shut your _goddamn cocksucking mouth!"_

Kankri gaped at him momentarily before standing up to face his younger brother and began to chastise him. "Now listen here, Karkat, there is no need for such triggering language! I mean, honestly. What are you, a heathen? Really, little brother, you should be more considerate with your choice of words. What if-"

Karkat, without thinking, shoved his older brother against a wall, cutting him off twice in about a minute. "I said SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

That got him quiet, despite all odds. Karkat turned on his heels and stomped over to the stairs again. When he was halfway up them, he heard Nepeta's timid voice mewl out to him, "Karkitty?" she inquired. "Where are you going?"

He turned his head slightly to glare down at her with fierce intensity and determination. He'd made his decision about the situation, and it was time to do something about it. "I'm gonna rescue Dad."

**xxx**

_Good luck, Kar! We'll be rooting for ya! _

_If y'all could review, that would be GLORIOUS. Kay, thanks, Lovelies. Until next time ^^~_


	6. Honorable Discharge

_Author's Note:_

_Enter: Sadness!_

_That's all I'm going to say on the matter._

**xxx**

**CHAPTER SIX:**

**Honorable Discharge**

All four of the other captives stared at him in disbelief. He knew exactly what they were thinking, too: _Is he nuts or something?_ Well, maybe he was a little nuts, Karkat reflected. Considering the situation they were in, he supposed that going after his dad wasn't the idea that most people would probably have thought of. But he was not most people. He was Karkat Vantas, and his dad was in mortal danger. So it was time for him to grow up, stop being a pussy-ass crybaby, and save his dad. He knew that his dad would do the same for him.

"Karkat..." The gentle voice of Nepeta and Meulin's mother, the woman he had convinced himself that he absolutely _hated_, distracted him from his heated inner pep-talk. He glared at her, but she met his rancorous gaze with evenness and composure as she continued speaking. "Do you understand just how _dangerous_ of a plan that is? Do you know how _easily_ you could get yourself killed?"

His features darkened. How dare she _question_ his amazing plan! Granted, it was less of a plan than it was a general idea of what he was trying to accomplish. But still. Maybe this could be used as a feasible motive to hate the woman?

Of course not.

This made him all the angrier, and he growled back at her in defiance of her perfectly correct statement. "Look lady, yeah, I know it's _fucking_ dangerous! I know how _fucking_ easily I could get myself killed. And you know what, lady? I don't _give two shits_ right now!" He paused to take a deep, ragged breath. "I'm gonna find Dad, rescue his ass, and then, I'm gonna bust everyone out of here. And after that, we're calling the fucking cops on these fuck-ups."

This time, it was Kankri who shot down his plan. "Karkat Vantas, how could you be so foolish? First of all, it would be so near to impossible for you to rescue our father that I, out of the goodness of my heart, shall refrain from stating the exact probability of your success so as to not embarrass (and possibly trigger) you any further. Have you even thought this whole thing through? How, pray tell, Little Brother, did you intend to rescue Father from a room full of armed and dangerous mob bosses who, as demonstrated by previous actions, would most likely not hesitate to _murder _you?" He paused, waiting for Karkat to answer. When he received silence, he continued in his inadvertently pompous manner. "Exactly. Young man, I _forbid_ you to go and get yourself killed in such an unwise endeavor. Father already said that he would return, and gave you _explicit instructions_ to, and I quote here, 'Stay put'. Furthermore, how did you plan on _absconding,_ Karkat? We haven't a getaway vehicle at our disposal, as convenient as this would be. And surely, in the unlikely event that we _did_ manage to escape without being killed, we would most definitely be hunted down later. And as much as I am an advocate of criminal justice, I do not believe that the long arms of the organized crime syndicate will be held at bay at all by mere local law enforcement. Based on this evidence, I am forced to disagree with your claim that this is the necessary, most favorable course of action. If you feel triggered by any of my prior statements, please do not hesitate to inform me."

At the end of Kankri's monologue, Karkat could only gape at his older brother for a long moment, wondering how he spoke that much without breathing. Then, he shook his head furiously, anger at his brother rising in his chest as well. "Shut the flying _fuck_ up! Just SHUT UP!" He raised his head to glower menacingly at his older brother, who returned a wide-eyed look of _I'm-Sorry-For-Triggering-You_, which was the closest expression Kankri could make to _Fuck-Me-I'm-So-Sorry-For-Being-An-Inconsiderate-Insufferable-Insolent-Douche,_ Karkat was sure.

"Oh my FUCKING GOD!" he yelled. He was just so _angry_, so _infuriated_ that no one was backing him up. "What is _wrong _with you people?! Dad is going to _die_-" The word stung as it came out, and he choked on it as it presented itself. He hadn't even meant for it to come out. "Dad... He's in real trouble, and..." He looked down at his handcuffs forlornly. _No shit, dumbass. Of course he's in real trouble. Say something that'll get them to help you!_ "And I... I'm going to try to save him, because..." Karkat looked back up at them all, gazing his brother and supposed-future-step-family with an intense fire. "Because I know he'd do the same for me!"

Nepeta's brows were upturned, as though this was driving her to great internal conflict, which it most likely was. At least he was swaying her. Meulin too. His last sentence also seemed to cause a shift in the general attitude of Kankri and Ms. Leijon, who had seemed the most opposed to the idea. Kankri had looked down and began shuffling his feet, and his father's girlfriend was regarding Karkat now with less fire in her eyes, as if she were slowly turning his words about in her head, considering them. This was something he had not expected, but he decided just to roll with it, continuing to speak in a smaller, less explosive tone, but not devoid of all of his emotion.

"I'm going to find him, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." Another deep, meaningful breath. "But you can come with me, if you want. Either way, I'll find a way to get us all out of here alive." With that, he began to ascend the stairs again, turning his back on the deciding four.

As his fingertips grazed the handle of the thick steel door, he heard a small mewl behind him, the sound of ruffling as if someone were moving, and an urgent, "Karkitty, wait!"

The daring Vantas boy turned around to see Nepeta at the bottom of the stairs, reaching for him, the expression on her face rife with worry. "Kar... Wait!" she repeated, sounding as though she were out of breath. Karkat looked down at her, eyes slightly widened and mouth partly agape. She looked so... _distraught._ Over him, too...

"Please... please don't go!" He stood there, speechless, as she said this. "At least... at least not by yourself. Please!" She gulped visibly, hesitating, then added, "I-I'll go with you!"

Karkat's eyes widened exponentially at this. He knew he probably should have expected this, but now that it was _happening,_ it came as a shock to him. After he overcame his initial surprise, he managed to get out, stammering slightly, "Ne...Nepeta? Are you sure?" Then, regaining his "Karkat Attitude", he faked a scowl in her direction, tone returning to normal. "If you're gonna quit on me halfway through, you can stay your ass in here."

She shook her head fervently, a twinkle of determination rooting itself in her eyes. "I won't! I promise, Karkitty! Let's go get Dad back!" Karkat wasn't sure if she noticed that she had called _his_ dad _her_ dad, but, for some reason, it touched Karkat's heart, and he smiled slightly, allowing his facade to dissipate. Before he could speak, though, her mother cut in, standing up and marching over to her youngest daughter.

"Now wait just a second!" she exclaimed. "No! No no _no!"_ With each "no", Nepeta seemed to lose a bit of her courage. Karkat glowered in the older woman's direction. Here she goes again, fucking shit up left and right. "You are _not_ going out there, young lady. Do you understand?"

"But, Momma-"

"No buts! Do you know how _dangerous_ of a situation we are in? Just stay put, for God's sake! All you two will end up doing is making things worse!"

Then, it occurred to Karkat, as Nepeta's mother was vehemently denying her permission to go about on this little quest, that Ms. Leijon wasn't trying to spite him or fuck up his plans in any way. At least, not as an act of anger. She was just trying to keep her child safe from the danger that _he himself_ had proposed.

He'd never felt like more of an asshole than he did in that moment of realization.

He wasn't just putting himself in danger. He was potentially putting _others_ in danger as well.

But... he was only trying to help...

Karkat gritted his teeth. Yes. He _was_ trying to help. He was _going_ to, in the end. This was his method, he decided. And it was going to work, one way or another.

In that moment, he decided that he was going to get everyone out alive, even if it meant setting up for his own death in the process.

Even if it meant going to find his father by himself.

As the two Leijons bickered on the stairs below him, Karkat silently turned and gripped the handle of the solid door. Just before he pulled the handle, a terrifying thought- no, _two terrifying thoughts_ struck him, one that could possibly have killed his plan right then and there.

_What if the door's locked?_

_What if there's goons outside?_

_Oh fuck._

Too late to stop himself, he pulled the handle of the door, cringing slightly as he did so.

To his relief (or terror, depending), the heavy steel door actually _opened_.

Instant silence fell over the captives. Karkat unconsciously held his breath as, when he didn't hear any of his classmates' parents yelling or see their guns blazing in his face anywhere, he opened the door further. Inch by inch, he pulled open the door using both of his cuffed hands now, and it was fully open in a matter of moments.

The room outside of the basement was dark, even in relation to the room they were currently in, which was saying _a lot._ It wasn't pitch, but it was most definitely going to be a chore trying to see where he was going. But he was certainly still counting his blessings, that was for sure. The door hadn't been locked, making freedom slightly closer to possible, and there had been no one guarding the door (for whatever reason- were mobsters just that arrogant?), meaning that there was a less-likely chance of him getting himself (or any of the others, for that matter) shot between the eyes.

"_Karkat,"_ Ms. Leijon hissed behind him. "Get back in here! It's too dangerous out there!" He heard Kankri concur somewhere in the background, but paid no attention as he took his first step outside of the basement's confines and onto the aged, wooden floor beneath him. He heard his name again. Several times, actually. But onward he went, taking another small step into the _very_ dark, spacious room. There was a staircase to his left, he noted. Distantly, he heard voices that didn't belong to his fellow captives. Bingo. _I'm coming Dad. Don't get your ass killed,_ he prayed silently, in the only fashion he knew how.

A hand on his arm made him jump two feet in the air.

Covering his mouth to stifle a squeal of surprise, he whirled around to see Ms. Leijon standing over him. She looked most displeased for a moment, before her features softened. "If... If you're so intent on looking..." she whispered. "I can't let you go alone. I will go with you as well. Nepeta, Meulin, and Kankri will stay in here."

Immediately, there was protest. "Momma!" Nepeta quietly hissed in indignation. "I _have_ to go!"

"No. You must stay put with your sister and Kankri."

"But-" Nepeta struggled for an answer, before Kankri stepped in to aid her.

"Ms. Leijon," he began, and Karkat new that the woman was in for a _real_ argument. "I believe that Nepeta has every right to accompany you and my younger brother. The reason for this being is that, while this seems like a very hazardous exploit indeed, she can perfectly well stand up for herself if need be. She is a very capable girl when she puts her mind to it and uses her full potential. Furthermore, she _was_ the one who first offered to go with Karkat, while you yourself refused this venture. Also, I believe it would be for the best that Meulin and I come along, too. I don't think it would be wise to split up at such a critical moment, either." _Where the fuck did he get this argument?_ Karkat silently wondered. Kankri's point was a horrible one that made very little logical sense. Nepeta versus Mobsters? Karkat would put his money on the mobsters. But Karkat assumed that it was the _way_ he stated his argument that ultimately swayed Nepeta's mother.

Ms. Leijon seemed to waver at Kankri's less-thought-out-more-emphasized-with-debate-club-skill argument, and at last, conceded. "Very well," she sighed. Her eyes took on a sharp appearance. "But you all must be very quiet, understand?" she stated her terms, emphasizing her mouth movements for Meulin to read clearly.

The three other teens nodded, and all five cuffed captives wandered out of the basement, sticking together in a tight-knit clump. Karkat was at the front of the little group, leading them up the stairs, signalling that he was sure of where his father was.

The stairs, though old, were much less noisy than Karkat would have given them credit for. He was relieved at this, though. Although he was sure that he himself was a master of stealth and thus naturally super-quiet, he was a tad concerned about the noise level of the group as a whole. He prayed to God that no one slipped up and got them discovered...

They crested the stairs, and Karkat led the others down a narrow, windowless hallway, until he reached a closed door with a bar of light peeking out from underneath it and muffled voices coming from within. _Jackpot._

He pressed his ear to the wall, and was able to catch very muffled bits and pieces of the conversation.

First, Karkat heard Mr. Zahhak's voice: _"...sic their lapdog, Pyrope, again..."_

_Pyrope?_ thought Karkat. Were they talking about Terezi? No. Of course not. Most likely her mother, then. It would have made more sense that way, seeing as how Terezi's mom was a very able law enforcement worker.

Then, a voice he didn't recognize. A female one. There was a snicker, and then: _"...doubt that... woman... this RAT... end his ass right fucking NOW, Condy..."_

That made Karkat's blood run cold. That woman had obviously been talking about his father. They _had_ been planning on killing him all along. He growled inwardly. Not on his watch-

"ACHOOO!"

Karkat nearly jumped out of his skin at the unbelievably loud sneeze, and whirled around to see Meulin covering her mouth. He paled. He supposed that she'd thought she was being quiet about her sneeze. But instead, she'd just fucked over his whole plan...

The door to the room opened.

_Fuck._

Karkat was immediately grabbed and thrown into the room face first by Mr. Ampora before he even had a chance to defend himself. He tumbled once, the pain from landing on the floor stinging his arms and legs. Momentarily disoriented, he sat up immediately to watch Mr. Zahhak and Mr. Ampora wrangle in (with not a whole lot of difficulty) the rest of the captives, shoving them down unceremoniously just as they had with him.

There was another snicker from his right, and Karkat turned to regard a woman (surprise, surprise) he recognized as one of his classmates' parents: The mother of none other than Vriska Serket, in the flesh. She sat in a rather ornate looking armchair with her legs crossed, a cigarette gripped lightly between her fingers.

"My my," Ms. Serket crooned at the sight of the captives on the floor between her and her cohorts. "Vantassssssss~" she drew out his last name (most likely referring to his father) in a most disgusting fashion. "Look who came to visit your _sorry ass!"_

Karkat immediately swiveled his head slightly leftward to see his dad standing there, in front of the mobsters' chairs. He was looking down at Karkat with dismay and fear mixed together in an upsetting hybrid emotion. Karkat looked away, face burning with shame. He'd come to liberate his dad, but he'd only ended up making things worse, just like Nepeta's mom had said.

_Fuck_, he was such an idiot.

He inched further away from his dad's direction, looking up elsewhere to fully take in the scene: It was a large, fully-decorated room. There were five chairs placed strategically in a line on one side, in front of his dad. In these chairs were, obviously, the mobsters. Karkat felt himself fill with more and more confusion as he identified the two he hadn't seen thus far:

One was another woman, sitting in the middle chair. Her hair was long, and cascaded down her back in voluptuous waves. She looked, in a nutshell: Regal. Regal and just _permeating_ condescension. This, he knew after searching his memories, was the mother of Feferi and Meenah Peixes. He recalled her bringing in a cupcakes she'd baked for his class's Valentine's Day party, way back during Kindergarten. What in the _fuck_ was she doing running a band glorified thugs?

But that wasn't the big shocker. What _really_ startled Karkat was sitting in the seat to Ms. Peixes's right.

It was...

Holy. Fuck.

It was Gamzee's dad.

Karkat's jaw dropped for the third time in the past half-hour. His mind was suddenly awhirl with thoughts and confusion. His _best friend's dad_ was a motherfucking mob boss. Holy shit. Well, he sure did look the part: dark, yet grand appearance. He was fucking huge, as well. That certainly helped his intimidation factor. Not wanting to sort through the jumble in his mind, he turned his eyes to other things.

Sitting in the other three chairs were Ms. Serket, Mr. Ampora, and Mr. Zahhak. He actually caught Mr. Zahhak's eye (at least, he thought he did; the guy was wearing sunglasses). The man scowled at him, and his dark leer sent an involuntary shiver down Karkat's spine. Again, he averted his eyes, and they came to rest on his dad, just as Ms. Serket began to speak again, gesturing to Karkat's dad as she did so.

"I don't see why they _can't _be here, Vantassssssss," she canted in that way she did and Karkat unconsciously bared his teeth. "It's not as if they'll be able to _tell on us~"_

Karkat saw his father stiffen, but his dad said nothing to the woman. Karkat wasn't sure whether that was a good thing, or a bad thing. Either way, Ms. Peixes turned her head in her regal manner and shot Mr. Ampora a look. Eridan's father stood up immediately, straightening out his tuxedo jacket for a moment before speaking in his irritated way. "Alright, Vantas. If you had half a brain cell, you woulda known this was comin'." He clicked his tongue in a disgusted, disdainful manner at his father, and Karkat wanted to punch him in his smug-ass face. "Here's your ultimatum, trash: We'll go ahead and off your baby rats and your broad here, an' you can go back to workin' for us like a good rat should." Karkat's eyes widened. They were going to kill _them?_

Before he had time to properly wrap his mind around this, Mr. Ampora continued, _"Or,_ an' I'll just say I like this option _way_ more, we kill _you_ and let your little 'family' here live."

Karkat's father opened his mouth, and the boy desperately wanted to stop him, but before he could move, he heard a voice from his right. It was Kankri.

He'd stood up and had begun to approach the chairs. Karkat's jaw dropped (again) as he stared agape at his brother's foolish actions. "Now let's just get one thing straight," he began, and Karkat wanted to tackle his brother to the floor and stitch his lips together. "This is social injustice! I'm feeling very triggered by all of this! Now if you don't let us go right this very instant, I'll be forced to-"

Kankri only stopped talking when Mr. Zahhak got up and beat him over the head with the butt of his pistol, rendering Karkat's older brother unconscious.

"Kankri!" Karkat found himself yelling and reaching for his brother's crumpled form, but backed away when he was fixed with another dark leer from Equius's father. He eyed Kankri's form, and could still see light signs of his brother's breathing underneath his big ass sweater. He nearly fainted with relief.

Mr. Ampora cleared his throat, and all eyes returned to him. "Let's get this over with, Vantas. What'll it be?"

There was no hesitation, and Karkat wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Kill me, but let them all live," his father answered stoically.

Karkat felt his insides freeze up.

_No!_

_Dad..._

Immediately, there was an uproar from the captives. Karkat heard his desperate yelling and pleading mingle in with that of Nepeta and her mother as they tried to do something, _anything_, to stop this from happening.

"Vantas," Mr. Ampora hissed. "Control your whelps."

His father turned around and crouched down beside them all. Karkat immediately jumped on him, and found himself being held close by his father for the second time in that day as he cried. "No, Dad! No! Don't do this!" he found himself sobbing into his father's shirt while the two females (Meulin having next to no idea what was going on) clung to themselves and cried, looking up at Karkat's dad as they did so.

Karkat felt his father kiss his forehead, something he hadn't done since Karkat was young. He clung to his dad's shirt, but that didn't stop him from standing up, getting closer and closer to his demise. He watched as his dad lovingly stroked Ms. Leijon's face and affectionately ruffled Nepeta's hair. Karkat was forced to let go as his dad straightened up, turning and taking a few steps closer to the mobsters. Karkat found himself whispering little bits of his thoughts as the tears streamed down his face.

"_Dad.. no... no no no! Please... don't do this... don't let them do this... Dad... Don't go... I love you..."_

Mr. Zahhak pulled his pistol out again, and Mr. Ampora sneered with delight as he spoke. "Alright then, Vantas. You of all people know the drill. Turn around, get on your knees, put your hands behind your head... and _say your prayers."_

As Karkat's dad obliged, and Mr. Zahhak readied his gun, holding it right up to the back of his father's head, Karkat had no words to describe what he was feeling. Only that he wanted it to stop.

"_Stop..."_

"_Don't..."_

"_Please..."_

"_No..."_

_BANG!_


	7. Change of Heart

_Author's Note:_

_I'm not sure if I should apologize for that soul-wrenching previous chapter, because, well, it DID say in the description that there would be character death. But still. I guess I apologize for the 'shocker' if it came as a complete surprise to you. Thank you to those of you Lovelies who told me your thoughts, too. ^^_

**xxx**

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

**Change of Heart**

As he watched his father's lifeless body fall to the ground in front of him, Karkat was vaguely aware of a noise that sounded very much like sorrowful screaming.

He never did realize that the sound was coming from him.

Karkat was barely even aware of the tears flooding from his eyes, much less the sobs and horrified wails coming from his fellow captives. All he saw was his father's lifeless body, blood leaking from his head and forming a gradually-growing puddle. He didn't realized that he'd crawled over to the body until he was suddenly gazing down at his father, the man's head on its side. Karkat reached out a quivering hand and touched his dad's face, feeling for any sort of signs of life, not that he knew exactly what those were. He brushed a strand of hair from the dead man's face, and froze up inside when he caught a glimpse of a closed eye, from which a tear perched on the edge.

Again, he started to panic. This was impossible. His dad couldn't be dead. He was just... unconscious. Yes. Unconscious. From that head wound, naturally. Yes! It all made sense! If they could just patch up that wound, they could get him to the hospital, and they could stop him from dying... And then... And then everything would go back to the way it was before...

Then, he heard... laughter.

Slowly, he lifted his head and turned it slightly in the direction the mocking sound came from. It was Ms. Serket. He watched her, wide-eyed, as she gazed down at him in her superior manner, snickering as if this were all some sort of vast joke. When their eyes met, she only seemed to laugh harder. Silence fell over the room, the only sound that of Ms. Serket's maliciously delighted laughter.

Unconsciously, Karkat began to bite his tongue. Even when he tasted blood, he did not stop. He felt hardly any pain, relative to the pain he felt when that bullet passed through his father's head. A small drop of blood escaped his lips and trickled down his chin. She was laughing at _him_. She was gaining amusement from his sorrow.

That _bitch._

Unconsciously, he bared his teeth, holding the wretched woman's malevolent gaze with his own infuriated eyes. If anything, this seemed to entertain her all the more, which, in turn, fueled the fires of his oncoming anger more and more. A quiet, low growl started in the back of his throat. How _dare_ this _bitch_ get off on such a thing! Greater reasoning would have told Karkat then and there to just stick to silent fuming, but, blinded by the grief of his loss, he found that he could not.

With a howl, he launched himself at Vriska's mother, arm pulled back for a punch. To his unfathomable dismay, he never got to strike her, for the moment she pulled her handgun from the inside of her coat, he froze. They were very close together; the tip of her boot grazed his shin. Slowly and reluctantly, he lowered his fist, finally registering the cool tip of the gun's barrel resting lightly against his forehead.

Their gazes still locked together, Karkat gradually becoming more and more intimidated by Ms. Serkets with every passing moment, the woman's mirthful smirk faded into a slight, distasteful frown, as if Karkat was nothing but something disgusting like vermin or garbage. "The boy is too reckless for his own safety, wouldn't you agree?" she inquired of her comrades, not just one in particular. Karkat heard Mr. Ampora grunt in concurrence, and he shivered unintentionally, and again when the light smirk returned to play upon the woman's face. "And I _do_ hate to damage the merchandise... It reduces their... _vaaaaaaaalue_~" As Karkat tried to wrap his mind around the meaning of her sentence, he was roughly kicked to the ground by a sudden boot to the chest.

His head hit the wooden floor hard, and he curled up on his side as pain pulsed through his cranium. He was dimly aware of that vile, tinkling laughter again, as well as the muffled sobs and shivers of the Leijons, and the void left by Kankri's unconscious silence.

Suddenly feeling tired, overcome with all of the sudden events, Karkat let his eyes fall closed, shielding himself from looking at his father's still body. His dad looked so different, lying there all motionless. Karkat wondered if he would ever let his father live this rather embarrassing state down once his wound healed. Karkat would tease his dad about how much he resembled a corpse, and he'd feign offense, and they'd laugh, and laugh, and laugh...

Mr. Zahhak's gruff voice intruded upon his thoughts. "We really should decide what to do about the captives." Karkat's eyes remained closed, but his ears were most definitely open. What were they talking about, exactly...?

Then, Mr. Ampora spoke. "Should we discuss this in private?"

And then, Ms. Serket, with a snicker, replied, "Tch, that is most certainly unnecessary. As if they could do anything about it, say, _snitch_ or some such thing. I doubt it would make much of a difference whether or not they were present. What say _you_, Condy?" There was silence, and based on the next words of the mobsters, he assumed that the pause contained a nod from Feferi's mother (whom Karkat had pieced together was the head of these hooligans, or so it seemed).

He listened intently, filtering through the soft sobs of the Leijons, as Mr. Ampora spoke in that dignified-yet-quite-obviously-malicious tone of his, "Well, I suppose we could- er, _might_ be able to pawn off the two boys somehow. Somewhere where people are into little boys, I guess." Karkat's foggy mind turned the words over and over, trying to decipher their meaning. What the hell was he talking about?

Then, Mr. Zahhak spoke in his gruff tone, "I believe that we would obviously have an easier time with auctioning off those three first. The demand _has_ been increasing recently, so I propose that we take advantage of this opportunity to increase our prestige in this certain area. The three females will undoubtedly sell for much higher, however, I am hesitant to say the same for the males. Perhaps standard labor would suffice, rather than..."

_Pawn._

_Auction._

As Equius's father kept on talking, Karkat was distracted by his sudden realization. Nepeta and Meulin and their mom- not to mention..._ him and Kankri-_ were going to be sold for... for... for...

Slowly, almost without realizing it, Karkat opened his eyes and raised himself upright, until he was crouching on the floor rather than lying on it. He looked up at Mr. Zahhak, wide-eyed, unsure of what he was going to do, only that he _had_ to do something. He wasn't about to let anything happen to anyone else.

And then, the next instant that something regarding the sale of the Leijons left the mouth of Equius's father, Karkat sprang over in his direction and slammed his cuffed fists into the stomach region of the man.

He was immediately dismayed at the feel of Mr. Zahhak's abdomen: rock-hard, just like his _goddamned_ son. His situation was not helped by the fact that the grown man didn't appear to be affected in the slightest by his not-so-well-thought-out attack. As silence fell over the room, Karkat, without missing a beat, improvised.

Karkat thrashed and flailed, beating at the muscle-bound man with his fists with wild, reckless abandon. He heard some words coming from one of the mob members, and it sounded like Ms. Serket, although he wouldn't have been able to register. Dimly, he noted that there was another voice, one he assumed that was Ms. Leijon's, that was telling him, no, _yelling at him_, to cease and desist. But it wasn't going to happen; he was just too far gone, too _angry_ that this man, all of them, really, was talking about doing all of these _horrible _things to him and the people that were special to him.

Suddenly, he found himself restrained, his arms pinioned to his sides by the large hands of Equius's father. Immediately, he struggled and fought, trying to worm his way out of the too-firm, rib-crushing grasp. There were other words shouted, too. A _"Leave him alone!"_ from Nepeta, something similar from Ms. Leijon, and something from Mr. Ampora that fell along the lines of _"Throw the brat and the others back in the basement already, fuck!"_ He was trying to be moved, to be hustled out the door, but Karkat would have _none_ of that. He writhed and thrashed about, yelling obscenities and other words he didn't even understand. As he was being shoved roughly through the door of the room, he took one last look at his father lying still on the ground, and cried out one thing he _could_ register:

"_Dad! Help-"_

Mr. Zahhak wasted no more time delivering unto Karkat's face a vicious backhand, which subsequently rendered him unconscious, just like his brother.

**xxx**

He awoke with a headache and a horribly ironic feeling of deja-vu.

Voices lulled him into a painful wakefulness, voices he trusted. Nepeta, her mother, Kankri. Kankri was awake at last? That was a relief. At least he wasn't permanently hurt-

All of a sudden, he heard a voice that he did not trust, one that clearly spelled out DANGER.

Karkat shot up from where he was lying down, and took a split second to recognize his surroundings: the basement from earlier, nothing new. His fellow captives were sitting in a clump as they had done before, and Karkat was a little further away from them and their "guest". With good reason, too.

The youngest Vantas child growled and scowled angrily in the direction of Mr. Zahhak, the one who'd caused him and his family so much pain that day. Had it only been a day? Karkat was beyond comprehension of how much time had passed since his abduction.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Unable to control himself, he launched himself at Mr. Zahhak for the second time, still-cuffed hands outstretched and ready to brutally strangle the life out of that _wretched_ man, no matter what the cost. He wanted to feel sweet revenge in the form of the pulse in that man slowly, ever so slowly, dissipate into nothing.

To his surprise, however, his hands never met Mr. Zahhak's throat, for he almost immediately found himself held back around the waist by none other than Nepeta. "Karkitty! Stawp that! Mr. Zahhak is a nice man!"

Karkat turned around and gaped at her, dumbfounded. That had made absolutely no sense to him. The man who had _smacked Kankri upside the head with a pistol,_ the man who had_ backhanded him unconscious, _and the man who had_ put a bullet through the back of his father's skull_ was apparently a completely decent person.

"Nepeta!" he cried as the girl retracted her arms from around him. "Are you off of your _fucking _rocker?" Karkat lowered his voice and fixed the darkest look he possibly could on his classmate. "Nepeta... do you have ANY IDEA WHAT THIS FUCKASS HAS DONE TO US? DO YOU?!"

"_Karkat,"_ hissed Ms. Leijon. "That is _enough_." Karkat's eyes flitted momentarily to Meulin, whose eyes were darting between everyone a million miles a minute, before he returned his undivided attention to Nepeta's mother.

"What the _fuck_ are you talking about, lady?" he growled. He wasn't really mad at her (again, he couldn't really find a single thing wrong with her without nitpicking), but he just needed _some_ way to vent his frustration without flipping his shit again and going after that DOUCHEBAG.

She narrowed her eyes at him, but spoke in an even tone regardless, knowing that there was nothing she could have done at the moment to improve his acidious tone. "Listen to me, Karkat. You have been unconscious for a few hours, and in that time, we and Mr. Zahhak have been doing some... talking. As it so happens, we are positive that this man has had a change of heart, and he has thus offered us a means of escape."

Karkat stared at his ex-would-be-stepmother in disbelief. _"What the fuck?"_ He switched his gaze from the woman, to Kankri, who nodded in assent, to Mr. Zahhak, and back to Ms. Leijon again. "Are you all shithive _maggots? _You can't _trust_ this asshole! He... he..." Not wanting to say "murdered" (because he was positive that his dad was still alive), he replaced the verb. "..._shot_ Dad! In the back of the head! And he _hit-"_ Remembering his already-patched face, he lifted his hand to his non-bandaged cheek and felt fiery anger rise in his chest when the light touch ached. Now both sides of his face were injured. Fucking great. "He _hit_ me and Kankri, _knocking us both out cold!"_

There was a silence, and all eyes looked to the mobster in the room. Mr. Zahhak was kneeling near the group, and his head inclined slightly toward the ground, as if showing some humility. "I... I do not believe that a mere apology would suffice-"

"No shit, _fuckass_," he growled vehemently.

Mr. Zahhak cleared his throat and continued, making sure not to look anyone in the eye (or at least directly, since Karkat couldn't see his pupils for the shades that shielded his eyes), "I believe that... in an attempt to get anywhere near to redeeming myself, even in the slightest, I..." He visibly gulped, and Karkat narrowed his untrusting eyes. "I would be willing to provide an apparatus for your absconsion."

Karkat gritted his teeth, opinion, admittedly, beginning to sway. He could not deny that the promise of escape (however shady it may have been) seemed tantalizing. He just wanted this to be over. Desiring another, firmer opinion, he looked to his older brother. "Kankri... Tell me what you think."

His older, red-sweater-clad brother straightened up in the preparation for another of his monologues describing his stance. "Well, I must say, little brother, that this whole situation has been very tri-" Kankri surprisingly cut himself off, looking down at his hands momentarily. Karkat didn't know it, but his older brother was thinking of his father's death, the one he had missed due to being unconscious. Karkat also didn't know (or acknowledge, at least) that his brother, despite the front he put up, was capable of human emotions, too. Promptly regaining his composure, Kankri straightened his back again and looked his little brother square in the eye again. "-very triggering. For everyone, I believe it's safe to say. And so, I believe that any method we can use to escape these conditions would be most favorable, based on the description of the hooligans' earlier banter that Ms. Leijon has informed me of. Quite frankly, I would prefer not to end up in a foreign country or any otherwise unfamiliar setting for the purpose of unpaid labor or other... intents. In conclusion, I do firmly believe that, despite the heinous acts that this unsavory character has committed, it would be in our best interest to give him the benefit of the doubt given our situation, and take this man up on his offer."

The younger brother looked down at his wrists, bound still by the metal cuffs. Kankri seemed okay with it, and so did Nepeta, and her mom, and even Meulin (he supposed- he couldn't really tell. She hadn't spoken much since her arrival, and THANK GOG for that). Maybe... maybe it wasn't such a bad idea...

He looked up again, glaring daggers at the father of the one who'd also done a harsh number on his face. "Fine," he murmured hesitantly. "I trust you... for now."


	8. In Which Things Just Get Worse

_Author's Note:_

_Hooray! This fic hit one thousand views this morning, and I'm so very happy ^^ Thank you, Lovelies, for all of your comments and support! -confetti-_

**xxx**

**CHAPTER EIGHT:**

**In Which Things Just Get Worse**

_Somewhere, in a place not far from where an escape plan was being carefully laid out..._

Equius Zahhak felt the punching bag tear at the seams as he delivered another heavy blow. He watched with a frown as it skittered across the cold stone floor of his basement, copious amounts of sand spilling out of the rip. A small, dissatisfied grunt escaped the muscular teen. He had expected this particular punching bag to be more durable. But, it appeared that would not be the case. Equius turned and headed up the basement stairs, pushing open the door and slamming it behind him. He enjoyed working out, but sometimes the equipment was just too fragile for him. Either way, he delighted in working up a good sweat.

"Equius?" he heard his brother's voice from the garage. "Are you finished with your workout?" Equius didn't have to wonder what his brother was doing in the garage at this time of night. He was most definitely working on customizing that car of his. It was a Mustang, and his older brother had been attached to the thing ever since he'd gotten it.

"Yes!" he called back. Then, after a moment of thought, he added, "The _confounded punching bag_ has failed me." He would have softened his language, but he was just so _frustrated_ that it was so difficult to find suitable workout equipment. Absentmindedly, he wandered through the kitchen and over to the garage door, opening it and stepping out into the garage as his older brother spoke again.

Just as he had hypothesized, Horuss's upper body was secluded, hidden by the undercarriage of his beloved vehicle. An open toolbox sat to his right, and Equius's brother appeared to be working hard on personalizing his precious car. To be honest, even with all his mechanical know-how, Equius often had no idea what his older brother was doing to that car, or even if it had any effect on how it ran. But he supposed that Horuss knew more about it than he did, and that was all he could really say.

"Oh fiddlesticks!" came his brother's voice from below the car again. "Er, pardon my language, but that is most unfortunate, Equius." And then, after a moment, his older brother added, "Have you, by any chance, seen father about? I need his assistance."

Equius raised a brow. He _hadn't_ seen his father. Not since that morning, before he'd gone to school. He remembered the last thing he heard from his father was something about being home at around ten that night, earlier than usual. His father had said that he hadn't a lot of work to do that night, just a simple job. And Equius and Horuss hadn't asked for details, as always.

The freshman shook his head stupidly, then, realizing that Horuss wasn't looking at him, responded, "I have not. Which is... peculiar. He had said this morning that he would be home earlier than usual, about ten o'clock, did he not?"

He watched as Horuss slid out from under the vehicle, wrench in hand and begoggled face stained with the occasional oil smudge. Although Equius could not see his brother's eyes, he knew that he as being fixed with a look of puzzlement. "He did... Odd... What time is it?" the older inquired.

Equius spotted the analog clock in a high corner. "It is... eleven forty-five, give or take." Tardiness was unlike his father...

Horuss rose slowly from the concrete floor of the garage, wrench still gripped in his gloved hand. "Already? This is most bizzare..."

Equius nodded in agreement. "This requires an investigation," he said before turning on his heel and leaving the garage. He heard his brother call after him, but he disregarded it. Equius ascended the stairs and entered his bedroom, stepping around dismembered robots and other mechanical pieces with practiced ease. He sat at his desk and switched on his computer. This may just be the beginning of an emergency.

And step one in the event of any emergency was to warn Nepeta. No matter what the emergency may be. No e%eptions.

**centaursTesticle [CT] **began trolling **arsenicCatnip [AC]**

**CT: **D- Nepeta

**CT: **D- You must respond to me at once

**CT: **D- In 100 of your silly games

**CT: **D- I e%pect a legitimate reply

**CT: **D- As this is c001d be a potential emergency

**CT: **D- The nature of which I do not e%actly know

**CT: **D- However

**CT: **D- The fact that my paternal figure

**CT: **D- Who is a very punctual man

**CT: **D- Has not returned at the time of which he appro%imated

**CT: **D- May or may not a100d to your personal welfare

**CT: **D- Thus

**CT: **D- As an e%eptionally good and STRONG friend

**CT: **D- I am inquiring as to your wellbeing

**CT: **D- Please respond

Equius leaned forward in his chair and clasped his hands together under the desk as he waited for a reply from Nepeta. He waited and waited for what seemed like an agonizing eternity. Equius's dark blue eyes were anxiously glued to the screen. After a bit, he began to fidget, his nerves slowly creeping upon him. The circle next to Nepeta's username was her olive green, wordlessly declaring that his friend was online.

_Then why isn't she online?_

Frowning deeply, he decided to ask his other comrade if she knew of Nepeta's whereabouts. Nepeta was almost never offline, not even this late at night. He knew, because they'd had several conversations this time at night before. Something was definitely wrong. First his dad, and now Nepeta. The chances of these two things being connected in any way were very, very slim, but Equius was the kind of person that would assume that they were.

He checked his ChumpRoll. Excellent. Vriska was online.

**centaursTesticle [CT] **began trolling **arachnidsGrip [AG]**

**CT: **D- I fear that Nepeta might be in mortal danger

**AG: **Pffffffff

**AG: **Equius, that is the single dumbest thing I have heard all day ::::/

**CT: **D- E%cuse me

**AG:** You're worrying a8out nothing, dum8ass.

**AG:** Oh, this is a joke, isn't it?

**AG: **Holy shit, Equius, I didn't know you were capa8le of joking.

**CT: **D- I am not

**CT: **D- I am being

**CT: **D- 100% serious at the moment

**AG:** Equius, don't 8e ridiculous.

**AG:** What makes you think that Nepeta's in "mortal danger"?

**CT: **D- She won't respond to my messages.

**AG: **Equius.

**AG: **_Equius._

**AG:** If only you could see how much you are making me facepalm.

**AG:** My palm is just out of control.

**AG: **Slapping my face.

**AG: **8ecause you insist on being a dense, obsessive idiot.

**AG:** She's o8viously sleeping, you twit.

**AG:** It's midnight.

**CT: **D- Be that as it may

**CT: **D- She usually answers my messages, no matter the time of night

**AG: **Point 8eing, you fool

**AG:** Nepeta fell asleep, forgot to log off, and is thus UNA8LE to answer you.

**AG:** Quit being so obsessive.

**AG:** You'll see her tomorrow, anyway. What's the 8ig deal?

**CT: **D- You do not understand

**CT: **D- It is

**CT: **D- Of E%TREME importance

**CT: **D- That you message her as well

**CT: **D- For confirmation purposes

**AG: **Okay, Equius.

**AG: **Okay.

**AG: **Fine.

**AG:** I'll humor you.

**AG: **8ut only to get you to shut up.

**CT: **D- E%cellent

Equius waited, and he had a response within about a minute or so.

**AG: **No go, compadre.

**AG: **She's afk or something.

**AG: **Satisfied?

**CT: **D- No

**CT: **D- This is madness

**CT: **D- I must

**CT: **D- Investigate further

**CT: **D- Before drawing my own conc100sion

**CT: **D- Goodnight.

**AG: **Weirdo ::::/

**centaursTesticle [CT]** ceased trolling **arachnidsGrip [AG]**

Equius, with gritted teeth and slightly perspiring pores, pushed away from his computer and stood up, metal-laced shoes making a heavy _thud_ sound as he rose. He walked briskly and heavily out of his room (kicking several robot limbs out of his way as he did so), down the stairs and back into the garage, where Horuss had returned to working on his car.

"I require usage of your vehicle at once!" he exclaimed as he burst into the garage. His brother was quick to reply.

"Are you mad? You know I can't let you drive! It would be illegal, and father would not be pleased if he knew that _I,_ the eldest of the two of us, allowed infringement of the law to occur!" This was very much true; Equius had failed all three of his prior permit tests, mainly because his strength often caused him to press down too hard on either of the pedals. It was rather embarrassing for him.

Equius clenched his fists. His brother could be difficult sometimes. Didn't he know that this was a drastic situation? He needed to see if Nepeta was alright!

"Horuss," he growled in a threatening manner. "I need to use that car without delay. It is an emergency!"

This time, Horuss slid out from under the car to look at his younger brother in adamance. "You most certainly may _not_ use my four-wheeled majestic beauty!"

Equius unintentionally released a small growl from the back of his throat. He hated when his brother got like this. He could most certainly take the car by force, and he would have been able to justify himself in doing so, certainly. But that was not how Equius got things done. Very well. He would use his own STRENGTH to solve this mystery.

Without another word, he hastily stomped to the other side of the garage, throwing open the door and stepping outside. He heard his brother call after him, "Equius! Come back here!" But he disregarded his brother, and slammed the door behind him. As the cold midnight air greeted him, he looked to the neon-spattered sky.

First stop: Nepeta's apartment.

**xxx**

Karkat eyed Mr. Zahhak with a mixture of maliciousness and wariness as the man quietly laid out his plan for the captives' escape. It sounded quite simple, Karkat decided as he listened. The other four mobsters were all the way upstairs, discussing the fates of the captives. So, Mr. Zahhak had said, he would lead them all outside after checking to see that the coast was clear, and they would escape in the car that had been used to abduct them. He gave them an address, too. Karkat wasn't sure where exactly the place was, or even if it could be considered _safe_ for them to be there, but he had no choice but to take the man's word for it.

He allowed his mind to wander, although he really should have been paying attention. This really was an important situation. But, he did what he did.

As it so happened, he slipped his gaze over to his older brother. Kankri seemed to be listening intently to what their father's murderer had to say. It was strange that it took such an extreme situation to get his brother to listen for once. Vaguely, he wondered what his brother thought of their current circumstances. He didn't look all that scared. In fact, Karkat didn't think he'd ever seen his older brother truly frightened before. He always seemed so... composed. How did he manage that? Surely he had emotions too! As for Karkat himself, he was absolutely terrified. He'd been snatched right off of his own two feet, thrust into an unfamiliar car by an uncomfortably-familiar adult, drugged, handcuffed, thrown into a basement with his also-kidnapped brother and would-be stepfamily, and, oh yeah, _he watched his dad get shot in the back of the head right in front of him. _

Karkat sighed quietly and lowered his head. His had had to be alive still. He knew it, deep inside his very soul, _willed it,_ that his dad's heart was still beating, his brain still functioning, his lungs still sucking in precious oxygen. There was no way that his dad could be dead. It was just impossible. Thus, it wasn't true. His dad was alive. Playing dead, probably, and thinking of a way to escape.

That was when it occurred to him: If they escaped now, they'd be leaving his dad behind with these goons!

Without thinking, he cut right into Mr. Zahhak's explanation. "Hey! Wait just a fucking second! We can't leave just yet!"

He was immediately fixed with five quizzical glances. "Karkitty... what's the matter?" Nepeta inquired, head tilted to the side and eyebrow raised in puzzlement.

Sans hesitation, he elaborated immediately, sounding as firm and adamant as he could. "We can't leave Dad behind! He's still in danger here, you know!"

An uncomfortable silence fell over the captives and their potential rescuer. He saw glances exchanged between Kankri, Nepeta, Ms. Leijon, and Mr. Zahhak. He watched their expressions closely. Upon Nepeta and Kankri's faces, he saw, oddly enough, hurt. Kankri was even biting his lip, something he never did, but was obviously a sign of nervousness or some such thing. Ms. Leijon's and Mr. Zahhak's lips were pressed into tight lines, and their eyes conveyed a message to each other that Karkat could not comprehend, as skilled as he was in reading the feelings of others.

Kankri turned to him, but not completely, hiding a portion of his face as he murmured in a tone that confused his younger brother, "Karkat..."

Karkat frowned and huffed indignantly. Why did everyone suddenly get so sullen? _"What?"_ he inquired/exclaimed, exasperated with all of this needless drama. What was wrong? Was everyone just afraid of going to get Dad? Because he was still in that room with the mobsters? Yeah, that was probably it-

Kankri's expression suddenly burned with anger, and Karkat was cut off by his older brother as he glared at the ground. "Karkat, Father is dead!" Before Karkat could call Kankri an idiot for believing such a stupid thing, he was rendered speechless when his brother whirled on him, an uncharacteristic mix of hurt and fury smoldering in his pupils. "He's _dead, _you idiot! Don't you understand? We're leaving behind a corpse! He's dead, Karkat! He's FUCKING dead and he's never, _ever_ coming back! Has it gotten through your _thick_ skull yet? You were there! You saw! You watched his brains get blown out of his FUCKING head, didn't you? Didn't you?!"

Then, before Ms. Leijon could intervene, It was Karkat's turn to explode. Without warning, he tackled Kankri and pinned him to the ground, and proceeded yelling right in his face in retaliation. "SHUT THE FUCK UP! You have NO idea what the FUCK you're talking about, you MOTORMOUTH SACK OF SHIT! So just SHUT THE FUCK UP and don't say ANOTHER FUCKING WORD! DAD'S NOT DEAD, ALRIGHT? HE'S NOT FUCKING DEAD!"

"Karkat, that is _enough!"_ Ms. Leijon shouted, laying a hand on Karkat's furiously quivering shoulder. And, in the matter of a moment, Karkat's vehement shouting was reduced to heartbroken, disbelieving sobbing.

"'S not true... He's not dead... Liar..." Semi-coherent mumbles fell from Karkat's lips as he clutched tightly onto his brother's sweater, weeping into his chest. Kankri slowly sat up, recovering from his own outburst moment earlier as well. He hugged his little brother close, something that he very rarely was able to do, and stroked his dark hair in a soothing manner.

Ms. Leijon rubbed small circles on his back, working with Kankri to try and help Karkat come to terms with the reality of what he'd witnessed. "Karkat... I'm so, so sorry..." she whispered to him, trying to be as delicate as possible, treating him as she would a child of her own. Behind her back, her youngest daughter sniffed and wiped away a stray tear. Nepeta couldn't stand seeing Karkat in such a state. It was devastating.

Everyone, save Karkat, turned to face Mr. Zahhak as he cleared his throat soundly. "I... I am very sorry to interrupt, but... Time is of the essence, and we must make haste if we are to get you all out of this place-"

"_Zahhak, dear, I thought you had more... sensssssssse~"_

Even Karkat had to look to the basement door, feeling his heart just about up and stop at the chilling voice.

Ms. Serket descended the basement steps with a horrifyingly smug, satisfied smile across her face. In a malevolent procession, her cohorts followed her down the stairs. Karkat unconsciously shifted closer to his brother, trying to find comfort in his red-sweatered grip.

As Ms. Peixes, the last in the line (but somehow the most intimidating) descended the last step, Mr. Ampora shot a snide glance to Ms. Serket. "Remind me again whose idea it was to allow Zahhak to keep an eye on the captives?"

Vriska's mom was not deterred in her haughtiness. "Mine, naturally. And remind me again who has now weeded out the traitor of the bunch, Ampora?" That shut him up. Karkat would have snickered had he not been scared shitless at that moment.

Ms. Serket snickered and fixed her vicious gaze upon Mr. Zahhak, who slowly rose to meet her. "Sssssssso," she cooed. "Look who had a change of heart. Honestly, I'm not surprised. I always knew you were a _pushover_, a sucker for sob stories. But, oddly enough, you've done worse than shoot a father in front of his sons before. I _know_ you have. So, Zahhak, what's so special about _this particular case, hm?_" As he gulped and went rigid, she continued, eyeing Ms. Leijon, who also tensed up. "Could it be because of this one, right here? You know, you didn't have to _rescue_ her. You could have just paid for her like everyone else. But _no_. You wanted. To be. A _hero. _Didn't you?" She took a step towards him, reaching for her pistol. He took a step backwards.

"Serket," Eridan's father interjected, a slightly... _whiny_ tone to his voice, and Karkat was surprised that this man could sound so much like his brat of a kid. "You _said _that I could-"

"Hush up, Ampora, ya big sissy," the mobster woman replied, drawing her gun and aiming it at Mr. Zahhak, who could do nothing but glare in defiance in his final moments. "You have next dibs. Promise~"

Karkat averted his eyes as the woman pulled the trigger, and another father was killed that night.

**xxx**

_I swear, he is the last father to die in this fic ^^" At least, that's what I'm aiming for. In any case, please review, as I would love to hear your feedback and reactions!_


	9. A Regular Sherlock

**CHAPTER NINE:**

**A Regular Sherlock**

Karkat shivered as he heard the body of their potential savior fall to the ground in a dead heap. He heard Meulin whimper (probably louder than she meant to), and felt Kankri's grip on his own shoulders tighten as he tensed up. He'd seen more than enough death that day. All of them had.

Except the mobsters, naturally.

"Tch. I knew it was him. The whoooooooole time~" Ms. Serket snickered deviously, then glanced sidelong at Mr. Ampora. "And _you,_ Ampora dear, were the first to say _'Spin, you're out of your mind!'_" The father of Eridan scoffed at this, and turned his head to the side. Once again, Karkat found their slight bickering a little amusing, and it reminded him of some kind of sitcom. This would have been a potentially hilarious situation, had he not been afraid for his life and lives of his loved ones.

Mr. Ampora then, regaining his dignity, turned back, and gestured to the five captives that sat huddled together on the basement floor."Okay, fine. You were right. Now, when, exactly, are we getting them out of here?" Karkat felt his blood begin to boil again. He'd temporarily forgotten about their plot to sell them. The last place he wanted to end up was in some foreign country being used for either manual labor or... the _other _kind of labor. Karkat suppressed a small shudder.

He tuned out the conversation of the outlaws as a blanket of dread began to fell over him. Their only way of escape was dead on the floor, and he was pretty sure that _none_ of the other criminals were up for a little change of heart, unfortunately. How were they going to get out of this? _Would_ they ever get out of this? All his life, from all those movies he'd watched, he had subconsciously assumed that, whenever anything bad happened, there was always a happy ending. But now... Now that he'd watched his brother get beaten over the head, his father shot to death before his very eyes, not to mention _his father's killer_ killed as well, all at the hands of these horrible people, he was starting to rethink his previous theory. Shit happens, sometimes to good people. And sometimes, there was just nothing that could be done about it.

So he sat there in the not-so-comforting-at-that-moment embrace of his sole surviving relative as he realized this, and never before had he felt so hopeless. As though no matter what he did at the moment, nothing could stop him and his fellow captives from being killed or shipped off to some uncharted place and used as slaves for some clients of the ever-growing, all-powerful mafia.

Was this really going to be his fate?

Vriska's mother raked her eyes over the captives, and frowned in disdain. "I think I liked my first idea." She pointed a finger to Karkat, and his eyes involuntarily widened, hand curling into a tight fist and gripping Kankri's shirt like a vice. "That bitch from last week wanted a new plaything..." Her slender finger shifted to point directly at Kankri. "We can advertise this 'n for medium labor, I'd say, if we worked him out a bit..." Next was Ms. Leijon. "Whore." Then, Nepeta. "Whore Jr." Lastly, Meulin. Ms. Serket paused for a moment, pondering what she would say. "Hmmmmmmmm... We could sell her insides... Ooooooooor..." She turned casually to Mr. Ampora, furrowing her brow as if this weren't a decision about the fate of another's life, but rather something trivial. "Amporraaaaaaaa, be a dear and help me out here."

Karkat turned his head slightly, mind not yet fully registering his disgust and fear, to eye Eridan's father as he wrinkled his nose distastefully. "Last time I opened my mouth to say somethin', I regretted it. Use your own skull-"

The young Vantas boy let out a barely-muffled _"Oof!"_ as he found himself pushed roughly to the ground when his older brother stood up with such a sudden, swift, fluid motion that all eyes were immediately drawn to the verbose high-schooler. Karkat barely had time to think _God dammit Kankri!_ before his brothers arms were crossed and he was officially in "Fixing-to-Rant-With-Attitude" stance. And, given the situation... that certainly wasn't the best course of action. But, before Karkat could knock some sense into his brother, the red-sweater-clad teen was on a loquacious roll.

"_I'll have you know, _you wretched scum-of-the-earth," he began, face twisted into a half-characteristic frustrated snarl. "That this is a _serious_, I mean, _beyond serious_ violation of human rights and social justice! I would just like to point out that these sorts of activities are just _begging _for divine judicial retribution. Not only that, but this _extremely _triggering experience you've put us through this evening will surely come back to haunt you or otherwise punish you all in the future. I mean, honestly! Think of your children! What would they say if they knew that their parents were nothing more than ruthless, murderous _dissidents, _who have nothing better to do than _murder_ semi-innocent, semi-guilty people and sell their family members to various clients- also of the criminal nature, who enjoy the free labor of minors such as myself, my brother, and my classmates, not to mention the fact that prostitution- much less the sexual exploitation of _minors_ is a _severe_ crime, punishable by-"

A sudden shot rang out, passing so close to Karkat's ear that he flinched violently away from his brother. When he opened his eyes, he gaped in shock.

They'd shot Kankri.

Karkat exhaled heavily in relief when his brother raised his body slightly off the ground. He was in a kneeling position, pain etched deeply into his facial features. It had only been his knee that had been shot. Kankri was breathing heavily, obviously trying to stifle little whimpers of pain. Even he was trying to appear strong in this horrible situation.

Karkat turned his wide eyes to the mobsters, who stood in their little formation. Ms. Serket was at the forefront, lowering the arm that had pointed the pistol and shot his brother. She was obviously quite displeased with Kankri's little gutsy speech. Her speech was broken, sputtered. "Why- you little... SHIT!" As she raised her arm and aimed at Kankri again, this time for his head, a hand was laid on her shoulder. Karkat turned his gaze to Feferi's mother.

"Dayum bitch. Calm yo titties," she said with a tone and accent that made a tiny voice in the back of Karkat's mind pipe up, _Yeah, that's Meenah's mom._

But the larger voice in his head was just a jumbled mess; things were moving too fast for him to process. He wasn't even sure how to react anymore. Too much was happening all at once.

_Why can't everything just SLOW DOWN?_

Mr. Ampora growled in annoyance, gesturing emphatically to the wounded brother of Karkat. "Aw DAMMIT, Serket! Look at what you've done! How the _HELL_ are we supposed to sell a laborer MINUS ONE OF HIS GODDAMN KNEECAPS?!"

Vriska's mother didn't seem the least bit deterred, once more taking aim at Kankri, who shrank back slightly. "Fine then! I'll just kill him now!"

This earned a rebuttal from Mr. Ampora, and the bickering continued until it was in full swing. Ms. Peixes stood by and watched, shaking her head, a look of stern disapproval evident upon her face, as did Mr. Makara-

If it were possible, Karkat's eyes grew exponentially wider.

Mr. Makara.

_Gamzee's _dad.

Karkat could not believe he'd forgotten all about him. As Ms. Leijon went to work on Kankri's knee, doing what she could do help stop the bleeding, Karkat gaped stupidly at the father of his best friend, whom he'd actually rarely ever seen.

He recalled one instance, a complete accident, really, when he'd slept over at Gamzee's once when he was quite a bit younger than he was at the moment (dear lord was that a pain to get his father to agree to- but he tried not to think about that) Awakened in the middle of the night by a fervent bladder urge, he attempted to find his way to the bathroom in the dark. Gamzee's house was like a goddam castle, too. Hard enough to navigate during the day. So, one can imagine the horrific fright that he experienced when he turned a corner and came face-to-face (or rather, face to lower torso; the man was a giant!) with a dark, looming, _terrifying_ figure. Scared out of his wits, he high-tailed himself all the way back to Gamzee's room, where he stayed awake for the rest of the night. It was only the next morning that he found out that the terrifying creature he'd seen in the dead of night was actually Gamzee's father.

Karkat absentmindedly shook his head, bringing himself back to the present, in which the respective mother and father of Vriska and Eridan quarreled amongst themselves in a most unprofessional manner, Nepeta's mother had used her youngest daughter's coat to staunch the profuse bleeding of Kankri's wound, and they Leijon girls leaned over Karkat's older brother, fear and worry tainting their pretty faces. All the while, Karkat's attention remained solely on Mr. Makara.

_How_ could he have forgotten that this man was here? _How?_

A plan started to formulate in his mind.

Maybe Gamzee's father was their ticket to freedom.

The bickering of the temperamental mobsters was interrupted by a crashing sound, and all eyes turned to regard the basement door that had been kicked clean off its hinges, landing crumpled in a corner. The kicker? Karkat's jaw dropped.

Equius. Fucking. Zahhak.

**xxx**

The younger (but STRONGER) of the two Zahhak brothers ran through the city streets in the dark of after-midnight. He knew exactly how to reach his destination. Several ways to, in fact, just in case he needed to make a detour at any point in his route. He sprinted along, nearly barreling into pedestrians that obstructed his path. That wasn't important, though. What was important was getting to where he needed to be.

He knew how long it would approximately take to reach Nepeta's house from his general location. As he rounded a corner, knocking over a fully grown man in the process, he calculated that he would arrive in about nine and a half minutes. Leaving the peeved shouts behind him, Equius raced on, muscular legs working like nonstop pistons, propelling him quickly towards his goal. But not quickly enough. Never quickly enough.

As he ran and ran, metal-laced shoes pounding hard on the pavement, the dense urban scene began to dwindle around him. It regressed until he noticed he had entered the quaint suburbs. Nepeta's home was nearby. Equius felt the forceful staccato pulse of his heart as he rounded another corner and laid eyes on his destination at last: the Lejon residence, in all its homely glory.

He wasted very little time in charging headfirst into the street to cross it. Just then, a car rounded the same corner and nearly collided with him. Instead, he was fast enough to dodge the majority of it; the front, however, barely scraped his shoe. Ignoring the blasting honk of irritation from the car as it sped away, he continued his dash across the street.

In no time, he'd cleared the street, the sidewalk, and the front lawn of the residence. Equius leaped the three steps in one go, and, without pausing, proceeded to kick down the door to Nepeta's house in the most dramatic and I-Mean-Business fashion he could muster. He didn't worry about the state of the door. It could be replaced later, after Nepeta's safety had been assured.

Equius strode with purpose into the house he knew well. It was welcoming to him, even in the dead of the night. Without pause, he marched up the stairs, passing by various school photos of Nepeta and Meulin, progressing with age the further up the stairs he went. He entered a hallway, scanning it briefly before laying his gaze upon the second door on the right- Nepeta's room.

The door gave way easily beneath his iron-laced shoe. Yet another thing that could be replaced. His friend could not be. Quickly, his gaze swept the room, and he felt his blood run cold when he saw no sign of Nepeta, sleeping or otherwise. Equius inspected the room further. Her bed was immaculate; kitten-covered comforter neat and almost beckoning. He turned his head to look at the computer on the desk. He drew closer, and inspected the screen. It was still on, the only light he'd seen in the house so far.

On the screen was a Trollian chat box. Equius's eyes narrowed behind his cracked sunglasses, and he gritted his teeth in annoyance. She had been talking to _him_ again.

**arsenicCatnip [AC] **began trolling **carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

**AC: **:33 *ac pouncegr33ts her brother-to-be with furrocious gl33 and nuzzles his sl33k fur whilst purring giddily*

**AC: **:33 *ac purrs good morning karkitty!*

**AC: **:33 did you sl33p well?

**AC: **:33 i mean

**AC: **:33 *ac paws at karkitty and meows chippurrly did you sl33p well?*

He checked the timestamp. The messages had been sent earlier in the morning. The muscular teenager deduced that she'd left her computer on by accident that morning and had never returned home to turn it off.

_Never returned home.._.

Red flags went off everywhere in Equius's mind. He had been right this whole time. Something _had_ happened to Nepeta.

Just as he turned and exited the room, hell bent on finding out what had happened to his friend, his phone vibrated in his pocket, and his ringtone blared. Equius jumped in surprise, quickly regained his cool, and fished out his phone. The caller was Horuss. No sooner had he accepted the call than his older brother's voice was pouring from the device.

"Equius! Where are you right now? I've just discovered something! Something that might help us properly locate Father!"

"Hush," he commanded curtly. His brother's semi-raspy voice was at a most unpleasantly loud volume. "Right now, I am in Nepeta's household. She is not here. Nor the other Leijons, it seems. Most suspicious..."

"Ahem. Yes, quite suspicious."

There was a pause before Equius beckoned his brother to continue with what he was saying before. "Yes... What exactly did you discover?"

"Hm? Oh! Yes! I- er, well..."

Equius sighed, beginning to lose what little patience he possessed. "Go o-"

"Well, I believe that it was definitely required, given the circumstances, ahem, but I, during my investigation, happened to venture into Father's room- for evidence, see- and I stumbled upon a small note, hidden in a very clever spot."

Equius was immediately intrigued. "What did the note say?"

"Erm, well, it had an address on it..."

"What _is_ the address?"

"Oh yes, sorry. One moment, let me fetch the note..."

About a minute later, Horuss relayed to him the address that had been inscribed on the note. Equius furrowed his brows as his brother went on and on about something or other. He thought the address over. If memory served, that particular location was situated in a rather (relatively) sparsely populated section of the urban area. What did that mean...? Was his father alright? Was _Nepeta_ alright?

He caught the last of Horuss's sentences. "So, I will meet you there as soon as I can, okay? Excellent. See you soon!" There was a click as his older brother hung up the phone, and Equius did the same a moment later.

A new destination. Things were getting more and more complicated

**xxx**

When Equius rounded the final corner and saw his brother's abominably-colored Mustang parked in a most conspicuous manner at a particular spot on the side of the road, he knew he was in the right place. He jogged up to the car, coming to a halt as Horuss stepped outside of the vehicle. The older came to stand beside the younger, and both looked up at their destination: A long-abandoned warehouse.

Equius scoffed. The place didn't even look like it should still have been standing. Hell, he bet that if he did so much as opened the door, the place would fall apart at the seams. That probably wasn't too far from the truth. Bearing that in mind, he gestured towards the old wooden door and looked at his older brother. "You go first," he insisted, and his older brother readily obliged.

Equius cautiously trailed after Horuss as they entered. Once inside, he took a long, sweeping look upwards. There was a case of rickety spiral steps that wound up the building, and he could see straight up to the high, high ceiling. The place was dark, really dark. Even if he took off his sunglasses, Equius knew that his vision wouldn't have been much better.

He turned his attention to his brother, who had ventured further in. Red flags. So many of them. He reached out to stop Horuss. "Horuss, wai-"

The Zahhak boy was cut off by a piercing, ringing gunshot, followed by some slightly-muted cries of surprise (or pain). Equius's head snapped in the direction the sound had come from, and began to stride swiftly in that direction immediately. Something deep inside of him told him that Nepeta (and maybe his father, too) was nearby, and he would be _damned_ if he'd let something happen to her (or them, depending).

He came to a door. A heavy, steel door. One that would obviously be no match for his STRENGTH. He would prove himself right, he decided. "Horuss," he called to his brother. "Over here!" And with that, he kicked that damn door right off of its hinges. Without paying much attention to where it landed, he surveyed the scene as his brother came up behind him.

_Nepeta._

Her family, too.

And... those _Vantas_ rats. The younger was still displaying the injuries from that afternoon. But those weren't the only people in the room.

Ms. Serket snickered lightly as she turned to face the two Zahhak children. "Good evening, boys." Her snickering evolved into delighted cackling. "Are you looking for your daddy?"

**xxx**

_Happy Homestuck Day, my Lovelies! _

_Thank you for reading this fic thus far! Please do tell me what you think, and be sure to have an absolutely wonderful 4/13!_


	10. Friends in High Places

_Author's Note:_

_Chapter ten! Woohoo! We're approaching the conclusion of this delightful tale! _

_Here you go: Chapter Ten!_

**CHAPTER TEN:**

**Friends in High Places**

When Equius only returned a confused raise of an eyebrow to Ms. Serket's inquiry, his brother mimicking this behind him, Karkat glanced at the body of Mr. Zahhak, hidden in the shadows of the dim basement. _He can't see the body..._

At once, he was struck with a sobering pang of the utmost empathy for, oddly enough, the guy who'd blackened his eye and knocked out one of his teeth. He couldn't help himself. Despite how much he wanted to be filled with the burning sensation of anger and lust for vengeance, all he felt inside was a cold understanding. The guy had lost his dad, his one and only dad. That was something Karkat could suddenly relate to, as of that evening. In a sense, he subconsciously felt that he and Equius were more alike than either of them cared to realize.

Ms. Serket obviously wasn't done with her psychological torture bit. "Come on down, boys," she crooned in a way that made Karkat want to puch her in the goddam face. After knowing what the Zahhak boys were going through (or were about to go through), he felt himself not wanting them to have to experience such a wretched pain, especially not in a way like this.

As the teens warily stepped down into the basement, confusion blatant upon their unknowing faces, Karkat began to slightly, unconsciouslyy begin shaking his head. He mentally willed them to stop moving forward, to turn around and leave this damned place as fast as they could. Naturally, and just his luck, too, this was of no use.

Vriska's mother crouched down a bit as they approached, reaching behind her and taking a hold of the body of the boys' father by the shoulder. She beckoned them closer, and they obliged. All the while, Karkat could only watch on in dismay and dread. Ms. Serket then lifted up the corpse of Mr. Zahhak, and dangled it in front of the boys in a most maliciously delighted way. "Well? Here he is~"

Immediately, Equius took a shocked step backwards, and Horuss's gasp of disbelief seemed to echo off the stone walls of the basement. Karkat lowered his head, turning his half-lidded gaze to the floor. He wanted to do something about this whole situation, but _what? _They had been trapped in these hopeless circumstances for hours on end, and now, Equius and his brother were too. Karkat clenched his fists as a silence fell over the room, the Zahhak brothers fully registering the death of their only parent.

"You- You-" Equius finally started to speak, though it was choppy with his rage. "Savage!" He started to lunge towards Ms. Serket, who dropped the body and reached inside her coat pocket for her gun. But before either of them could injure the other, Equius was suddenly being restrained by none other than Nepeta, who reached out to seize his shirt with her cuffed hands, halting him in his tracks.

"Equius!" she cried, and buried her face in his tank top, while he watched her, stunned. Karkat was confused as well. She had acted really, _really_ fast. He'd hardly even seen her move! Karkat watched on as Ms. Serket smirked and retracted her hand, content instead for placing it on her hip and watching this tiny reunion unfold.

"Nepeta..." The muscular teenager turned around to face her completely while everyone else watched the scene. "Are you unharmed?"

She nodded without showing her face, which was still hidden in his chest. A tiny part of Karkat flared up with a feeling he didn't quite understand. This guy was a complete asshat! How was she so comfortable around him? He was an overly-strong, possessive freak! He knew he had other things to be angered by, but for a mere moment, these thoughts occupied his mind.

The mobsters watched this happen in an intimidating silence, and after a moment, Feferi's mother, without saying a word, began to walk towards the basement stairs. As she passed by the newly-orphaned Equius and Horuss, along with Nepeta, her eyes turned to the Zahhak boys for a mere moment, relaying something unreadable, before stepping up the basement stairs and out of the room.

Three of them remained; enough to still keep Karkat from (once again) doing anything he regretted.

Another moment after that, Ms. Serket looked to Mr. Ampora with a quizzical look on her face. He responded with an equally quizzical expression. She looked away exasperatedly, sighed, and turned to Gamzee's father (whom Karkat somehow kept managing to forget was in the room).

In a voiced that was saturated with an unspoken 'pretty please', she said, "Would you be so kind as to keep an eye on them while Ampora and I take our leave? Oh, we will come and relieve you from your duty soon! Promise!" She gazed over at the terrifying man hopefully, and he nodded a nod so slight that Karkat almost hadn't detected it. He had noticed, however, that besides the beseeching tone of Ms. Serket's plea, her general inflection had suggested that Mr. Makara was something of a superior to her.

Which suddenly made his plan a whole lot easier. The fact that he would be keeping watch over them helped matters immensely, also.

With a satisfied smile, Ms. Serket grabbed Mr. Ampora by the wrist (he didn't actually seem to mind all that much) and pulled him after her up the steps and out of the basement, following Ms. Peixes. They closed the hefty door behind them.

When Karkat again lifted his eyes to Mr. Makara, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw those dark orbs fixed on him. His fright wasn't at all helped when the massive man began to approach the cluster of captives. Karkat only barely managed to refrain from shrinking away. Nepeta and Meulin did not, the former shifting closer to Equius, and the latter letting out an unintentionally-audible whimper directed at the daunting figure of Gamzee's father.

As he came within the four-foot range, Karkat was surprised to find himself suddenly on his feet, in semi-attack mode: ever-so-slightly crouched, fists balled up, and teeth clench. Within a moment, Gamzee's father was standing right in front of him, a smirk light upon his face. Karkat's eyes were wide, and, although he didn't know it, he was quivering like a blade of grass in the breeze.

The next thing he knew, the behemoth of a man's hand was placed upon his shoulder, which was so tiny in comparison that it was almost laughable. He shook a tad more under the pressure. When he noticed this previously unconscious shaking of his, he hoped with all of his heart and soul that no one would remember this moment, although, knowing his luck, this image would be burned into their memories for the rest of their natural lives.

There was an overwhelming silence as Mr. Makara looked down at Karkat, so much smaller than himself, as if he were sizing up the orphaned Vantas boy. Karkat was positive that the whole entire world could hear his pulse pounding through his veins. And then, after an agonizing forever, the man's face cracked a grin that seemed to fit his face rather well and not fit it at the same time. For obvious reasons, this seemed to terrify Karkat even more so.

"_Boy,"_ the man stated in a vociferous manner that made Karkat flinch at its intensity. "I'm not going to _kill_ you..." Mr. Makara chuckled unsettlingly. At this, Karkat stood up a little straighter (with great effort) and narrowed his eyes. The _last_ thing he'd wanted to hear was a death joke. What does this barbaric man do? He makes a death joke. Not _twenty minutes_ after they'd all watched a woman shoot a father of two sons in the face, Gamzee's dad was making a death joke.

Now, naturally, Karkat very much could have been over-analyzing this whole situation. In fact, it was highly possible that Mr. Makara was only trying to make him feel a little more comfortable around him. But, as was Karkat's unconscious tendency, he could have been blowing things out of proportion, yet again.

With all the strength and courage he could muster, he took hold of the hand placed upon his shoulder and shoved it off, anger blazing across his face. "Look here, _bastard,_" he hissed vehemently, "How _dare_ you! How dare you _touch me,_ how dare you _laugh at such a vulgar thing, _how dare you _watch on_ as _two fathers_ are _murdered_ right in front of you, and how _dare _you-"

He was sharply cut off by a rough smack across his face, courtesy of his best friend's father. Stunned, Karkat's widened eyes were locked on the wall, registering the sting of the slap as a red mark began to appear on his cheek. He clenched his teeth as Mr. Makara spoke harshly to him.

"Listen, _boy_," he growled. "You'd best up and get your mirth on, little Vantas, 'fore someone with less patience than this joyful motherfucker up and guts you 'nads to motherfucking neck. Am I _fucking_ clear?"

Karkat was glad there was that red mark on his face, because he was sure he was blushing like a schoolgirl in his embarrassment. He was being treated like a child, and that was something he _really_ did not like. But, learning from his past mistakes, he decided to hold his tongue. Instead, he nodded, averting his eyes to the floor.

When he dared look back up at the man, he was surprised (and yet not surprised at the same time) to find Gamzee's father smirking lightly down at him. This was met with a quizzical narrowing of Karkat's eyes, one which Mr. Makara disregarded. The giant of a man looked towards the other captives for the first time, and Karkat turned his head to look at his fellow "prisoners".

After a moment of allowing his gaze to pass over all six of the other captives, Mr. Makara turned and ascended the few steps to the steel door, appearing to be deep, deep in thought. He opened the door, swiftly but quietly, and leaned outside, surveying the area outside of the basement. Then, he leaned back inside, closed the door, and trotted down the stairs again. This time, when he surveyed the captives, there was a different look in his eyes: one of deep consideration, of a plan forming. Karkat's stomach twinged. Maybe his plan was being set into motion for him...

A heavy silence fell over the room, as, once again, Mr. Makara swept his gaze over them all, pondering something for sure. Then, his eyes fell on Kankri, who was leaning up against the wall, injured leg wrapped in Nepeta's coat. He was pale and shaking slightly, and Karkat felt pretty shitty for not being over there with him while he was in so much pain, even though he probably couldn't have done anything.

Mr. Makara pointed a long finger in the direction of Karkat's older brother. "We best get this motherfucker all up in a hospital pretty damn quick. Can't have 'im motherfucking bleed to death. This is one whacked up place to die in." Karkat silently scowled. Of course this was a "whacked up place to die in". Maybe he should have thought of that _before_ he allowed his cronies to put a bullet into Mr. Zahhak _in this very room_. As much as he wanted to say this, he didn't want to get hurt again, so he restrained himself.

Instead, it was Ms. Leijon who spoke. "Is that an offer to help us?" Karkat had almost forgotten about her, which was very strange, given how she was quite literally the only thing he'd thought about the previous night, when he'd freaked out on her and his dad (although he didn't really want to think about that at the moment). He was now beginning to see her in a new light, whether he realized this yet or not. She'd done what she could do keep Kankri from bleeding too much after he'd been shot, she'd helped Karkat come to terms with his father's death, she'd done her best to keep everyone together during this wretched peril, and, after realizing all this, Karkat was beginning to feel like even more of an ass for thinking so ill of her.

Maybe... Maybe it wouldn't have been all that bad for her to have been his new mother.

Not as if that were ever going to happen at this point.

Gamzee's father, instead of giving a straight answer, crossed his arms and raised a brow at Nepeta's mother. "I owe a motherfucker a favor, and this is how a motherfucker keeps his word."

Nepeta poked her head out from behind her meatshield, Equius. "So, we're going to escape?" she asked excitedly (and with a hint of caution, conversing with a mob boss, after all).

The man nodded simply. However, Karkat was not satisfied.

"A favor?" he inquired. "A favor for who, exactly?"

Mr. Makara turned his head in the slightest to look down at the young Vantas boy. "Gam. Lil' motherfucker's been pesterin' me 'bout not offing you little shits when we took out your old man. Guess it's all my motherfucking fault for telling the little bastard."

Karkat blinked twice. So Gamzee had _known_ that his own father was on the wrong side of the law? What's worse, Karkat realized, was that his best friend _knew_ that that they had been planning on killing his dad! Unsure of whether or not he was supposed to be angry, Karkat simply bit his lip and looked down at the floor, saying nothing more.

Equius's voice invaded the silence. He cleared his throat first, then tentatively asked of Mr. Makara, "W-well, that is all very good, h-however..." He trailed off for a bit, then went on. "Where would we g-go?" By the sound of his voice, Karkat could tell that the muscular teen was sweating, and he idly hoped that Nepeta wasn't still touching him. Gross freak.

Gamzee's dad responded, "You poor motherfuckers can chill and lay low at my place till they stop looking for you. Then, once you get a righteous motherfucking home situation worked out, y'all motherfuckers are out."

Horuss was next to contribute to the plan. "I have a vehicle we could use," he suggested eagerly, and Mr. Makara nodded.

"Good. These bitches'd get their panties all up in a wad if one of our cars was motherfucking commandeered..." He, too, fell silent for a bit, before looking up at all of them again, arms crossed, expression rather hard to determine.

"You motherfuckers best be up and getting the fuck outta here."

**xxx**

_Heheheh... Another escape attempt for our heroes! _

_Oh, while I have your attention: By the by, I have just begun another Homestuck story, this one being a Homestuck/Hunger Games crossover, called Of Blood and Glory. I thought it was a good idea, and I'm really pumped to write it, so if I could get some of you Lovelies to check it out and tell me what you think, that would be greatly appreciated! ^^ _

_Until next time~_


	11. Absconding

_Author's Note:_

_I have a feeling that this story isn't going to last much longer than maybe one or (by some mIrAcLe) two chapters more. Yup! Final stretch, guys!_

**CHAPTER ELEVEN:**

**Absconding**

Karkat nodded after Gamzee's father spoke, still eyeing him warily. After all, he wasn't really in a position where he was ready to trust anyone one-hundred percent just yet; his father had lead a double life as a mob hound, his first means of escape happened to be the one to _execute_ his father, and, apparently, his best friend had known for God-knows-how-long that his father had been marked for elimination, and said nothing about it. So, it was perfectly understandable that Karkat was running a little low on trust at that moment. However, he was also sure that this was probably the last chance he was going to have to get anyone out of that hellhole like he'd promised them he would, and he would be damned if he was going to end up having to go back on his word because he was too stupid to follow some simple directions.

Without bothering to waste any more time, he turned away from the obscenely tall man to face the others, ready to dole out orders, ready to get them all the fuck out of there. He looked at Horuss first.

"Go and get your car ready," he said curtly, then pointed to Meulin, Nepeta, and their mother. "You three go with him. The sweaty bastard and I will be right out with Kankri. I don't think those other assholes are downstairs, so the coast should be clear, but be quiet anyway." Equius visibly huffed at Karkat's insult, ego damaged, and Ms. Leijon looked at him quizzically for a moment before tapping her daughters on the shoulder and beginning to lead them quietly out of the basement after Horuss without complaint.

Then, he turned to Equius, doing his best to hold back a glower; the last thing he wanted was to get into a fight with this guy_ again_. That insult had just slipped out on impulse. Karkat inclined his head in the direction of his older brother, who was leaning up against the stone wall, pale with blood loss. "I don't know if he'll even be able to walk with support, but we should at least try."

The musclebound teen nodded in reluctant agreement. "Very well..." he murmured before walking over to Kankri and helping him rise, looping his arm under the oldest Vantas child's armpit so that the use of his injured leg would be unnecessary. Karkat started over there to help, but he was stopped by Mr. Makara's massive hand on his shoulder, catching his attention.

"Get this little man to the hospital first thing, you hear?" he said, squeezing Karkat's shoulder a little more, as if to highlight the urgency. Karkat mentally scoffed. He'd taken part in the murder of his father and the kidnapping of his friends, but yet here he was concerned about the well-being of his older brother all of a sudden. Karkat still couldn't wrap his mind around that completely, but he supposed it all had something to do with keeping a promise to Gamzee.

"You think I don't know that?" Karkat couldn't subdue the urge to shoot back a snarky comment. He regretted it immediately, afraid he'd get hit again or otherwise injured. Instead, there was only a look of grave concern upon the terrifying man's face.

"What I really motherfucking mean is..." He reached into his breast pocket and procured a small slip of paper, handing it to Karkat. Karkat took it in his hand and examined it. On the paper was the name of a doctor: _Dr. Maryam_, it read. Karkat raised a brow. Was that... Kanaya's mother? Mr. Makara continued, "Ask for this motherfucker. We got a whole shitload of hounds working in that place, but this one is loyal to me first and motherfucking foremost. Old friends, see. She'll up and take care of him real good. Make good and motherfucking sure that no one else is allowed in that room with your older bro over there _except for this motherfucker right here._ Understand, little man?"

Cautiously, Karkat slowly nodded, pocketing the slip. "Yeah, I understand," he murmured. Without saying a word more, he turned away from the giant and hustled over to Equius to assist with Kankri.

He looped his other arm under Kankri's under armpit, and he and Equius began to make their way to the steps. Even though he was positive that this overly-muscular freak didn't need any help whatsoever in assisting his older brother, Karkat was feeling slightly guilty about being such an ass to his brother beforehand, and wanted to make it up to him somehow.

As they painstakingly managed to reach the top of the steps, approaching the door, Karkat halted for a moment to turn around. Gamzee's father had his back to them, and appeared to be looking at the basement floor. He finally mustered up the courage (after swallowing his pride, naturally) to say, "Thank you. For everything..." Karkat trailed off, and turned away, continuing with Equius and Kankri out of the basement door.

It took the pair an excessive amount of time to help Kankri outside of the building. Mainly because of the fact that Karkat and Equius were constantly stopping in their tracks and holding their breath, afraid that they would be discovered by the enemy at any given moment if they made just the slightest bit of noise.

In the end, they did actually manage to make it outside without being found out. Karkat's relief was indescribable when they finally stepped out into the cool night air. In actuality, though, it was really in the pre-sunrise hours, going on about four-thirty in the morning. But he didn't know that.

He immediately picked up the pace when he saw the car parked by the sidewalk, but had to slow due to a discomforted grunt from his older brother. Forcing himself to be patient, he kept on assisting Equius in helping Kankri across the sidewalk and to the car. While he paused to help Kankri into the second row (where Nepeta and Meulin were also sitting), he noticed something about the car. Something that did _not_ go over well with him.

"What in the almighty fuck is this abomination?" he hissed to Equius, in lieu of Horuss. The muscular freshman looked at him quizzically as the two travelled to the other side of the car, where Nepeta had stepped out to allow them into the third row. "What exactly do you mean? The vehicle? Is it not suitable? There is plenty of room for all of us to fit inside-"

Karkat cut him off, stopping in his tracks for emphasis. "I _mean_, you thick-skulled shitstain, why the _hell_ is our _getaway _car bright. _Fucking. _Orange?"

Equius crossed his arms and glared at his fellow orphan through his fractured sunglasses. Although he did agree with the Vantas boy- this car _was_ an abhorrent shade- he was not going to stand by while some filthy _rat_ made a mockery of his brother, and thus, himself.

"Listen closely, _punk_," he growled irritably. "This is the only means of escape we _have_, unless you want to sprint!"

Emphatically, Karkat gestured to the automobile in question. "The car a neon _fucking_ sign! 'Oh yeah, mobsters, your _fucking_ fugitives are in here! In here! Yoo-hoo!' I don't _fucking_ feel like getting in a car chase with the mafia, asshole! _Or,_ for that matter, perish in an accident that looks like something out of a _fucking_ action movie!"

Finally having lost his patience, Equius grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and shoved him in the direction of the door Nepeta was standing by. Karkat stumbled, turned around to glare at his classmate, then, with copious reluctance, he turned and climbed into the back row of the car. Equius followed behind, and Nepeta returned to her seat afterwards and closed the door. Everyone was in.

"Let's get a fucking move on! The sooner we get to the fucking hospital, the better!" he called at the driver from the back seat. Horuss complied, starting the engine and pulling into the street at record speeds. Karkat turned his head to look back at the warehouse before they completely sped away from this dilapidated section of the city. He wondered in the back of his mind how Mr. Makara would take care of explaining their escape to the rest of his bloodthirsty comrades. He mentally shrugged. If there's a will, there's a way. He had a gut feeling that, whatever he did, that man would be just fine. Call it instinct.

The drive was long; the particular section of the city that the captives had been held in was far, far away from any place useful. Naturally, there were no hospitals anywhere nearby. As such, it would have taken them at least forty-five minutes or so, maybe less due to the lack of traffic, to get to their destination. Worry tugged at the edges of his mind that Kankri wouldn't be able to last all that much longer without getting some medical attention. Despite this, he soon found that all the events of their captivity were finally catching up to him. Weary, he let his eyes close, just for a moment, he decided, and unintentionally fell asleep.

**xxx**

When the car stopped, he was immediately awake; his eyes snapped wide open and he sat straight up with a start. At once, he was pushing and shoving Equius out of his way. Nepeta readily got out of the car and lowered the seat so that Karkat could leave the vehicle, and he did so without hesitation.

Karkat ran around to the other side of the car, where Ms. Leijon was already helping Kankri from the car. The young teen stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of his older brother's face: pale, eyes closed, devoid of his usual attitude. Karkat was stunned. He'd only been shot in the knee! Had he really lost that much blood?

After recovering from his initial surprise, he assisted Nepeta's mother in carrying Kankri into the hospital, since he obviously wasn't strong enough to support himself even a little bit anymore. She had him by the chest, and Karkat had him by the legs. Horuss held the hospital door open for them, and together they gingerly carried the oldest Vantas child into the hospital, the Zahhak boys and Leijon girls following close behind, not wanting to be separated at this point.

It took all of about two minutes for Kankri to be loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled away. Karkat was hot on their heels. He didn't care if he was being a nuisance or not; he just wanted to be with his only surviving relative. He didn't bother to check if anyone else was following him, because he simply just did not care.

They took him to a room and relocated him to a hospital bed. Remembering the note in his pocket, Karkat tugged on the sleeve of the nearest nurse, retrieving the slip from his pocket.

"Hey, uh..." he began, showing the lady the paper. "I was told to ask for... for her."

The nurse looked down her nose at him, lips twisted into an unimpressed frown. "Doctor Maryam is busy at the moment. Do you understand? _Unavailable._"

Karkat gritted his teeth. There was no way his brother was going to be put into a potentially hazardous situation just because some bitch had a bad attitude. "Look, lady, I _really _need to-"

"I _told _you already, kid, Doctor Maryam is-"

"Available, as of now," a new character entered the room. Karkat was immensely relieved at the sight of Kanaya's mother. She tapped the disgruntled nurse on the shoulder. "I just wrapped up my workload; I'm free right now, thank you." Taking this as a dismissal, the nurse huffed out of the room, and Dr. Maryam turned to regard Karkat at last. "My, it's been a while since I saw you last! How's your father doing?"

Karkat bit his lip and shook his head, dismissing the question. Time was of the essence. "Hey, Doctor, this is _kind_ of an urgent situation... Gamzee's- Mr. Makara told me to come and find you-"

She patted him on the head, understanding flashing in her eyes. "I see. I will do what I can." With that, she made her way to the bed that Kankri laid upon and beckoned to her assistants. Fatigued once more, Karkat sat down in a chair near the doorway as they commenced the treatment of his brother.

Everything was going to be fine, he knew. But nothing would ever be the same again.


	12. Closure

_Author's Note:_

_Here it is! The last chapter of A Bone to Pick! I've decided not to go any further than this, because, well, this just seems like the place to wrap things up. A biiiiig thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed or otherwise supported the story, because I really wouldn't have been able to finish it without you ^^ You guys are awesome._

_P.S.: I noticed that some of you people wanted KatNep, so, well, I'll throw something in there. Might not be much, but, um, yeah. c:_

_Without further delay: the conclusion!_

**CHAPTER TWELVE:**

**Closure**

After they'd finished patching up Kankri's knee, the assistants of Dr. Maryam were promptly dismissed once they'd cleaned up the area. Karkat looked up as the assistants filed out of the room, leaving only him, his older brother (who had been rendered unconscious once again by anesthesia), and Doctor Maryam in the room together. The woman pulled up a chair next to Karkat and sat down in it, a look of seriousness in her eyes that held his gaze, even when he wanted to look away.

"Your brother will be fine," she began, and Karkat's eyes brightened despite the doctor's tone. "However, it is very likely that he will be walking with a limp for the rest of his life." His face fell once more, and he looked down at his feet as she went on. "Kneecapping is very painful. It is a wonder that he was able to handle himself the way he did. It could have been much worse. In some cases, amputation is necessary. He is lucky to be able to keep his leg." Another pause. Karkat shifted uncomfortably. For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that _he_ was responsible for his brother's injury, although in reality that didn't make very much sense. But, in Karkat's reasoning, if only he could have stopped his brother from making that one outburst-

"I can only assume that this is the work of Ms. Serket." Karkat looked up in surprise when the doctor said this. How did she-

"Ah, yes, I do know most everything about Mr. Makara and his ilk. And I do know, from what he's said, that she has a very short temper, and is rather... trigger-happy, if you will. Furthermore, he's also told me that she enjoys the whole process of 'kneecapping'. If I had to guess, I would say it was because she is quite the abysmally sadistic person."

Karkat nodded mutely, still trying to process the fact that Dr. Maryam apparently knew all about the mob and their goings-on. Did that mean that she knew about his dad? No, she'd asked him about his father before Kankri's treatment... Had she been faking ignorance before he showed her Mr. Makara's note? Did _all_ of his classmates' parents have some kind of extensive network of relationships?! How many other of them were involved in crime? Terezi's mom obviously was not, neither Nepeta's or Kanaya's (as far as he knew). But what about Sollux's dad, or Tavros's, or Aradia's mom? What if Kanaya's mom _was_ actually an outlaw, and she was just putting up this act because Mr. Makara told her to? Had Mr. Makara planned to get rid of them _this_ way?

Dr. Maryam patted him softly on the head, interrupting his frantically cluttered mess of thoughts and assumptions. "I understand that this is all quite confusing, how we are all acquainted and such, but I assure you, I most certainly am not a criminal, and Mr. Makara knows that I have no intentions of becoming one. I am a healer; not a killer, unlike some of the other contacts I know to be associated with his... comrades. In any case, please understand that your brother is safe while in my care."

The Vantas boy blinked. "How long is he gonna be staying here?" he inquired, nervously tugging at the ends of his own sleeves. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to stand being separated from his sole surviving relative for more than a couple of days or so, as much as he was loathe to admit it to himself.

The kind doctor smiled warmly and tilted her head to one side. "As I said before, Kankri is very lucky for one with an injury of this particular kind. We were able to do what we could to set most of the damage on the path to healing, and his body will have to naturally take care of the rest. This won't take very long- that is, it won't take as long as the average person with this sort of injury; he will only need to stay here for about four or five days, I estimate."

Although she delivered this news as though it were to be relieving, all he felt was his heart sinking into the depths of his gut. Four or five days, the doctor had said. He wasn't sure he could last that long without his older brother while he was still recovering from all that had just taken place. As much as it wounded his pride, he knew that he just wouldn't be able to deal with not having his brother around, for once. He needed a shoulder to lean on, whether he would admit it to himself or not. Karkat's father had left a void in his heart when he died, and, although it could never be truly healed again, the least he could do was look to his brother for support, and in return, be a figure of support for his brother when he needed it.

Karkat sighed, feeling just so... tired. This whole ordeal had taken a giant toll on him, and he was just ready to curl up and stay asleep for the next eternity. Dr. Maryam seemed to sense his weariness, and she rose, once again pausing to pat his head once. "I will leave you alone with your brother now. It should not be much longer before he wakes up. I will be a few rooms down if you need me, so you only need to call." She walked to the door before turning around one last time. "Would you like me to send in your companions? They might be worried about Kankri as well, or you, for that matter."

He shook his head. The less people around him at the moment, the better. "But, um..." he murmured quietly, "...Could you just tell them that Kankri's okay? And that... I'll be out soon. I just wanna talk to him for a little bit when he wakes up."

She nodded, understanding as usual. Karkat couldn't resist a vague smile. "Of course, Karkat," she said before she left, closing the door to the room behind her. He sighed in relief and rose from his seat to pull the chair closer to the bed his brother was lying in. He sat again, and took a closer look at Kankri's face. It appeared healthier than when they'd first arrived at the hospital, and Karkat supposed he had to be thankful for that. He looked a little bit closer, scrutinizing his brother's face, and noticed, peeking between his bangs, a secluded purple bruise near one of his temple, most likely acquired when the late Mr. Zahhak had pistol-whipped him. Karkat narrowed his eyes, pushing the thoughts of the dead man from his mind, as they would only get him to thinking about his father again. Whoops- there they were. Those damn thoughts.

Karkat remembered an event that he hadn't thought about in a very long time: his birthday. His sixth birthday. He hadn't had very many friends at the time (in fact, he only had one: Gamzee), so in lieu of a backyard party with dozens of little impish kids running around, his father decided to take him and Kankri to the zoo. At first, Karkat was a little averse to this idea. But, when they'd got to the zoo, he immediately took a liking to the crab exhibit. He remembered sitting on the bench, watching the crabs walk around for about an hour. In retrospect, he probably had freaked out a lot of people, because, well, what kid has an hour-long attention span? But he'd done it, and his father and Kankri stayed with him the whole time, because they'd wanted him to have fun, of course.

Karkat bit his lip. How could he not have noticed how kind and loving his family was? Instead, for the majority of his life, he deluded himself into thinking that they were there only to bother him. And, just to show how thankful he was for having such a kind and loving family, he made an ass of himself when his father decided that it was time for _him_ to be happy for once, and settle down. He put a hand to his temple, face flushing hot. How could he have been such a-

"Karkat..." a weak murmur brought him back from his self-loathing. He looked up sharply. Kankri's eyes were half-lidded, and gazing up at him from the bed. His brother seemed out of sorts, naturally, but Karkat could only assume that even feeling a tad weary from the anesthesia would stop his brother from being a motormouth.

"Kankri!" the younger brother gasped. "You're awake! How are you feeling? How's your knee doing? Do you need anything? Water? You sure? I can go get you so-"

"Karkat!" the older shushed the younger with a voice that seemed a tad different than usual- a bit raspier, less matter-of-fact. "Calm down, if you please. I'm very much okay, save for the fact that my left leg is currently out of commission. Did the doctor inform you how long it would take for my appendage to return once again to working order?"

Karkat looked down at his hands, which were clasped tightly together, resting on his lap. How was he going to put this? Was he just supposed to tell his brother that his leg was fucked up forever? He'd be limping for the rest of his life? Was it his place to tell him that?

His eyes darted around for a moment before they finally came to rest on his older brother, who was still expecting an answer. Karkat tried to put on his most convinceable smile. "Yeah, she sai-"

"It's nothing good, is it?" Kankri sighed and looked away. "Based on your hesitation and the inflection of your voice, I believe it is reasonable of me to surmise that my leg _won't_ be returning to working order, yes?" Karkat could only nod.

"B-but look at it this way," Karkat began again, trying to cheer up his older brother in any way he could. "The doctor said that you'd be able to leave the hospital in, like, four days. So, you'll be up and walking in no time!" He tried his best to appear enthusiastic, which was rather difficult for him to do (he hadn't had much practice; he wasn't Nepeta, for crying out loud).

Kankri simply nodded. "So I suppose I'll just have a ridiculous limp for the rest of my life, huh?"

"Well-" Karkat started, trying to remain positive, but he slouched down in his chair, heaving a sigh. "...Yeah. I... I'm sorry, Kankri."

Surprisingly enough, his older brother turned back to him and smiled. "No, no, it's quite okay. I mean, I suppose some not _too_ major adjustments are in order, but I can assure you that I will manage. After all, there are some worse off than myself, and I suppose that I need to stop this foolish self-pity and check my privilege. After all, things could have turned out _much_ worse than they did. For example, more people could have been killed, maybe even myself, and that would leave you all alone in the world. But nope! We are considerably lucky, given our ordeal, young brother, and we both need to remember that."

Karkat found himself nodding and, surprisingly, smiling along with his older brother, the only person left on this earth that he could call true family. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he agreed, glancing down at the clean tile floor again. After a pregnant pause, he hesitantly ventured, "Kankri, I... I'm sorry for flipping out on you back in the basement. It was pretty stupid of me to still think that Dad was still alive..."

He shook his head. "Not foolish at all. You were simply emotionally scarred, and one part of your mind could not process what the other already had. As such, you were conflicted between what you wanted to delude yourself into believing was the truth and what the fact of the matter actually was. So no, Karkat, you yourself are not at fault; it was a very reasonable reaction, and I'm quite certain that there are many other people who would have responded in the exact same way." His brother looked away before going on, quieter this time. "In fact... I am the one who should be apologizing. I forced reality onto you before you were completely ready to accept it, and in such a way that was highly triggering, I suppose. In retrospect, it probably would have been for the greater good if I hadn't been the one to break the news to you. Perhaps if Ms. Leijon had, then things would have gone much smoother. I overreacted because, very much like you, _I_ was coming to terms with the fact that Father was gone. I did not want to believe it myself, but when you brought the subject up again, I found that it was a futile endeavor to attempt to restrain my emotions, so they burst forth- like a dam, if you will, and-"

Kankri stopped speaking as he looked back over to his little brother. He smiled slightly in amusement. Karkat had fallen asleep sitting up, eyes closed and head tilted downward. He laughed softly to himself for a moment. His kid brother was quite the character.

Footsteps approached, and soon Ms. Leijon entered the room. Upon seeing Karkat, she placed her hands on her hips and sighed fondly, shaking her head slightly. "We were getting to be worried about him," she said, looking at Kankri. "The doctor informed me that it shouldn't be much longer before you're out of here. I'm happy to hear that." She smiled. "Hopefully, by then, we'll have gotten a home situation at least partially worked out." The woman sighed again, not so happy this time, and looked away. "I can't speak for the Zahhak boys, though. I had a talk with Horuss, and he said that he would try to find a way to take guardianship of Equius so that he wouldn't be taken away. He's no longer a minor, after all, but I wish him the best of luck." She tilted her head to one side thoughtfully. "I can't imagine how hard it must be to be separated from a family member like that."

Kankri nodded in agreement. For once, he stayed silent for a moment, mind hard at work. After a little bit, he piped up, "What do you suppose will happen to me and Karkat?"

Ms. Leijon looked back at him. "You two will always have a home with us, you know. As far as the legality of it all, I would be happy to find a way to take you both into my custody, if that is what you want. Kankri nodded again, this time in careful consideration.

"I believe that that would be the best option at this point. I mean, it is not to my knowledge that we have any other relatives currently capable of caring for two teenage boys. So, I give my assent on the matter, and I believe that, when Karkat comes to, he will as well."

The woman clasped her hands together and sighed. She had quite a bit of work to do. Better start sooner rather than later, she supposed. Ms. Leijon placed a hand on the sleeping Karkat's shoulder and shook him gently to rouse him. "Karkat? Karkat? We're going to go to Mr. Makara's house now, so you have to wake up."

Kankri observed as his brother was gradually reintroduced to the waking world. Karkat blinked furiously in an attempt to gather his bearings once more, then turned to Ms. Leijon, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "We're leaving... now?" he asked groggily, and the woman nodded and began to help him up from his seat.

Once standing, Karkat looked back at his brother, lying on the hospital bed. "Kankri... Bye..." The older of the two waved weakly. "I'll be fine, Karkat, don't worry," he reassured his brother. "I'll be seeing you in a few days."

With that, the woman led Karkat to the door, removing her hand once she knew he was completely awake (didn't want him blowing another fuse, especially not right then), and the two left Kankri alone in the hospital room. As they met up with the others in the lobby, Karkat felt a small twinge of fear for his brother. What if he really wasn't safe in that place? He couldn't stand the thought of losing his last living relative, so he placated himself as the group walked back outside to Horuss's car with the memory of Dr. Maryam's reassurance that his brother was perfectly safe there.

They all climbed into the vehicle once again, Karkat once more opting for a third-row seat, and as they pulled out of the hospital driveway and into the wee hours of the morning, Karkat allowed himself to fall asleep for the third time that early morning.

**xxx**

As events unfolded, the captives arrived at the Makara house, as they'd been instructed. Gamzee, having been informed of their arrival beforehand, had thus prepared a guestroom for each. Meulin-Kurloz snogging was plentiful, and everyone did their best to ignore it.

Karkat, upon seeing his friend after the Ordeal, was conflicted about whether or not to throttle his best friend, as he had supposedly known that his father was going to be killed and basically that their whole little escapade was going to happen in the first place. In the end, the only thing that pacified Karkat was thinking of the consequences that might have occurred had Gamzee informed him of the upcoming abductions. He reluctantly supposed that having his father orchestrate their escape was the best his friend could have done, given the circumstances.

They remained in the Makara household for a grand total of twenty-three days; in which time an investigation was held by the local and federal police (Terezi's mom, Karkat knew, was also involved). This included Karkat, Kankri, Nepeta, Meulin, and Ms. Leijon all being questioned by officers (something Karkat is VERY GLAD he probably will never have to go through again). In the end, the only ones they could connect to any sort of crime were Ms. Serket, Mr. Ampora, and the late Mr. Zahhak. This cause Karkat to wonder how neither Gamzee's father nor Feferi's mother were apprehended. But, he supposed that, when you were truly in power, nothing could touch you.

Once the situation with the police had been sorted out, there was the home situation to be taken care of. Horuss, being the only other legal adult besides Ms. Leijon, began renting out an apartment where he and Equius lived while he tackled the legal guardianship business. Ms. Leijon was going through a similar experience during that time as well; she had taken Karkat and Kankri into her household while she sorted through legal business herself.

And finally, after about a year and a half, Karkat and Kankri, in the eyes of the legal system, had a new family.

**xxx**

Karkat ambled back and forth around the quite spacious attic, his room. He rather liked having an attic as a room, for some reason. Maybe it was because there was less of a chance that he'd be constantly pestered by people, that this room gave him a sense of being alone when he so desired it to, or maybe it was because he liked the view the large, circular window provided. For whatever reason, though, he liked his attic.

When the adoption process had completed, around six months ago, Ms. Leijon- no, his _mother_, now- had offered to move to a different house so that he and Kankri could each have their own rooms like the girls did. But they declined. They were happy in their respective basement and attic.

Karkat paused his pacing to peer out the window and admire the view of suburbia he'd become so accustomed to. He bit his lip as his gaze wandered over the quaint houses. Today was the anniversary of his father's death, the anniversary of the day his life had hit a massive speedbump.

Sometimes, he found himself questioning once again why his father had decided to break ties with the mob and cause this whole domino effect of shitstorms. That is, until he reminded himself of the reason (which, for some strange reason, he could never remember at will). It was something Gamzee had told him when he'd been staying at his house just after the Ordeal. Just as it was with the other mob bosses, including Gamzee's father, when Karkat's father died, one of his children would inherit his position, and thus carry on his legacy in the organized crime syndicate. It had struck Karkat a while ago that _that_ was one of, if not _the_ biggest reason why he'd wanted to sever ties with the band of outlaws. He didn't want either of his sons to have to grow up on the wrong side of the law, as he himself had. This often got Karkat to wondering what would have happened if his father had not attempted to leave. Would Karkat himself have had to take his father's place in the mafia? Or maybe Kankri? He shook his head, clearing it somewhat. It had also hit him, a while back, that Gamzee would most likely succeed his father, and join the mob hereditarily. It made him wonder how long their friendship would be able to last...

Again, he shook his head. He had always told himself before that he and Gamzee would cross that bridge when they came to it, and that's what he told himself then, too.

Karkat felt his phone vibrate, and he slid it out of his pocket and looked at it. A Trollian message. From Terezi, too. He couldn't resist a half-smile.

**gallowsCalibrator [GC] **began trolling **carcinoGeneticist** **[CG]**

**GC: **K4RKL3S!

**GC: **JUST DOUBL3 CH3CK1NG

**GC: **YOU'R3 ON FOR TON1GHT, R1GHT?

Karkat's smile evolved into a genuine full-blown expression of contentment. Terezi knew that today was _that day_, and she had planned a little get-together with some of their friends. Karkat suspected she did this to help take his mind off of the Ordeal, but he could never be too sure with Terezi. He replied in the affirmative, then set his phone on his nightstand and leaned back up against the windowsill, continuing his intake of the suburban scene.

Normally, he would be talking to Kankri right about now, as he had done on this day the year prior, but his brother had graduated from high school and had since gone off to some university he'd been accepted to. He visited on holidays and breaks, but the separation really made Karkat realize even more so how much his brother really meant to him.

The sun was beginning to set, and Karkat checked his alarm clock. It was going on six-thirty. They'd planned to meet at seven. He opened the door to the attic and swiftly descended the well-used staircase, and made his way to the bathroom. Once inside, he grabbed a comb and ran it through his sable hair until he deemed it satisfactory. Then, he replaced the comb, and took a step outside the bathroom-

Where he was immediately glomped by his little sister.

"Karkitty!" Nepeta purred, wrapping her arms tightly around his midsection. He cried out in surprise, then retaliated by tickling her sides until she squealed and released him, laughing.

"Unfur!" she exclaimed, mock-pouting in her fake indignance. "You know I'm really ticklish!"

Karkat couldn't resist a laugh. "That was the point, dum-dum." He papped his sister on the head, causing her to giggle.

"Whatcha gettin' all cleaned up fur?" she inquired, tilting her head to the side and blinking her wide eyes curiously.

"Some friends and I are hanging out-"

"Ohmigawsh Karkitty canIcomecanIcomecanIcoooooome?" Nepeta squeaked, bouncing up and down a hundred miles per minute. Her adoptive brother crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, looking away and huffing in his usual fashion.

"I guess. If you're not gonna be _too_ annoying, like usual..." he assented 'begrudgingly', and watched as she skipped around, crying "Yippee!" and such. Gosh, she was a fountain of energy.

As he headed back up the attic steps to grab his phone before he left (he couldn't remember why he didn't just stick it back in his pocket- curse his lack of foresight!), he heard Nepeta telling their mother where she was going. He grabbed his phone, stashed it in his pocket, and headed back down the steps, only to be met halfway down the hall by his adoptive mother.

It had taken him a very long time to actually get used to calling her his mother. In fact, sometimes he still called her 'Ms. Leijon' in his mind by accident, but not out loud anymore. Sometimes, he looked back and reflected on how he'd felt about the woman two years or so before, and wondered why he was so averse to her being his mother. And, after a while, he'd come to the conclusion that it was simply because he'd been reluctant to change anything about his life. But when he'd been forced to recover from all of those changes so quickly, he'd easily gotten over his fear, and thus had been able to settle into a new life as her adoptive son without all that much difficulty. And, in all honesty, he couldn't believe that he'd once felt any sort of ill will towards this woman. It was all, in a way, very ironic. Every once in a while, he'd wonder what his past self would think if he knew that, one day, this woman would legally become his mother, and he would end up being perfectly okay with it.

She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms, waiting for him to elaborate on his and his sister's potential whereabouts for the next couple of hours or so. Naturally, his new mother had grown very protective ever since the Ordeal, and that was something that Karkat supposed he'd just have to live with. It was for their own good, after all, and he had experienced firsthand just how beneficial a few precautions could be.

"We'll be fine," he assured her. "We're just going into town to hang out with Terezi and Sollux. And, I have my phone. Yes, it's on. If anything happens, I'll be sure to let you know, okay?" He lowered his head and looked up at her with the most innocent smile he could muster (as laughable of a notion as it was).

She smiled down at him, and then nodded. "Okay," she said. "Just... be careful, alright? And don't come home too late."

"Duly noted," he quipped not unkindly, moving past his mother, Nepeta falling into step with him just before he headed out the door. Karkat heard the two exchange goodbyes, and closed the door behind them both.

Then, he and his sister started down the street, heading for a cafe that had opened two years ago, downtown, and not too far from the library.


	13. Sequel Notice

_Author's Note:_

_Well really this whole "chapter" is just one AN. A notice, to be more precise. _

_Guess who has a sequel! _

_ABtP, that's who!_

_Actually, the sequel's been out for at least a month or two now. It just barely occurred to me that I hadn't actually announced it to the followers of ABtP ^^ Whoopsie-daisy. _

_Anywho, the sequel's called Amity's Plight, and can be found on my profile (duh). _

_I hope you all enjoy it as you did its predecessor! _

_See you on the other side, Lovelies!~_

_P.S.: This notice will probably be taken down after a bit, once I'm pretty sure all the followers of this story have gotten the message u _


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